Signs of the Zodiac
by 00zags
Summary: [Axess] A mysterious orginization who call themselves the Zodiac Twelve is after five specific navis with intentions of ripping their data apart... and Cypher is one of them. Sequel to Power Surge. [Partially cowritten with Vyser Dragoon] R&R!
1. Rhapsody in Blue

Hey all, it's me, Jonjetman, back with another Megaman adventure. However, this time I'm joined by the creative mind of Vyser Adept of Dragons. Say hello, Vyser!

_Just glad to be here!_

Just to let all of you know, for these beginning and after parts, anything I "say" will be regular and anything Vyser "says" will be in italics. That way you can tell the apart. Isn't that convenient?

Well, anyway, you all know that at the end of my last fic, Lee was now a Net Saver, and plus I left a whole lot of questions unanswered. Well, guess what? You guessed right! I'm going to answer them in this fic! Props to Vyser for giving me the excellent idea for this story.

_No problem! I'm happy to oblige! _

Well, (I seem to be using that word a lot) we've bored you long enough with this intro stuff, so let's get down to the good part. Without further ado, I…

_**Ahem.**_

Oh right, sorry, I mean, **we** give you… "Signs of the Zodiac!" Ooo… Isn't that title just so ominous?

* * *

Serena took her time walking out of DenTech Academy, while everyone else rushed out around her. She was in no hurry, nowhere special to go, no one to talk with. She was a loner. But she did that to herself. She was shy, especially since she had only just come to this school. Perhaps that was why she and her navi got along so well.

Dolph was almost a complete opposite to her, personality-wise: Outgoing, always willing to make a new friend, and brave. Serena felt that Dolph was everything she herself wanted to be, but never would.

She pulled out her PET as she walked out into the sunlight. "What do you want to do today, Dolph?" she asked.

"Uh, didn't Mom ask us to pick up some groceries on the way home from school?"

Serena clapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh right! I completely forgot!"

Dolph just smiled. "That's why I'm here. Jack me in and go on ahead and let the grocer know what to have ready."

"Right, you should already have the list loaded up. Ready?"

"Duh. That's why I suggested it."

"Jack in, Dolph, power up!"

The aqua colored navi appeared just outside the Net City System. "I'll meet up with you in town," she said, starting to head toward the city.

"Okay, don't get into any trouble."

Ironically, several pairs of eyes were suspiciously watching Dolph jog past. "Boy, isn't she a pretty little bunch of data?" One evil-looking navi observed, rubbing his hands together.

The other two present glanced at their leader, awaiting a response. The leader rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yea… Wouldn't it be a pity if she were all of a sudden to disappear? I bet certain people would pay a lot of money to get her back."

One, a bit slower than the rest, just had to ask: "Which certain people, boss?"

The leader hit him over the head. "Her Op, you idiot!"

"Oh right. I knew that."

The four slipped out of the alley and began trailing Dolph from a distance.

* * *

Back in the real world, Serena turned out of the school entrance and headed toward the grocer's a couple blocks over. She had only been walking for a few minutes when an alarm went off on her PET. "Dolph, what's wrong?" she asked urgently.

"These four guys got me backed up in an alley. I can't get away."

Two of the evil navis were slowly advancing on Dolph, while the boss waited in the background and the remaining one guarded the end of the alley from the shadows.

"This is bad." Dolph muttered. "Serena doesn't have any battlechips and she's too far away to log me out." She quickly turned and kicked one of the two in the face when he got too close.

"Ow!" He staggered backwards holding his nose. "What'd you do that for?"

His partner hit him over the head. "Whaddya think she did it for?"

The leader came forward. "Feisty one, ain't ya? Now then, come quietly and no one, meanin' yourself, gets hurt."

"If those are the options, then I prefer to crank up the volume. Aqua Trident!" Dolph grabbed a blue trident that formed in front of her and hurled herself at the nearest two.

"Get down here!" the boss called to the one guarding the entrance.

"But…"

"NOW!"

Meanwhile, Dolph had managed to put the slow one out of commission and was struggling with the second. Both the two navis had both hands of the trident and were grappling for control of it. The evil navi caught a signal from his boss and began maneuvering to get Dolph's back to the other two. Dolph was unaware of such a plot and continued struggling until the two grabbed her arms from behind. She continued to struggle but they just held her tighter, breaking her hold on the trident and bringing her arms behind her.

The one she had been fighting with picked up the trident. "Not so tough now are ya, huh missy?" He began poking her with her own trident.

"Stop that!" The boss called. "Help us tie her up."

He complied, but not before whacking at Dolph's legs with the trident. It turned out to be his one big mistake.

Just after Dolph cried out from being struck, a bright light emerged from the spot that the navi had hit engulfing Dolph. The navis backed away, unsure what was going on. "What did you do?" the leader demanded.

"Nothin', I swear!"

Meanwhile, Serena, who was rushing toward the grocer's, hoping to find a place to connect with Dolph and log her out, noticed the bright light also. "Dolph?"

Finally the bright light died down to reveal Dolph, but not the same Dolph. Her colors were inverted, switching around dark and light aqua blue. Also, a strange blue light hung around her.

The three lackeys edged away a little further. "Boss…"

Dolph picked up her trident that lay discarded on the ground. "Who wants some?" she asked smirking.

The other three backed away even more. "Boss, let's get out of here," one said. "I don't like the look she has on her face."

"Looks are nothin'. Let's see if the little girl can take me on. Bone Crusher!" The boss slammed his fist into the ground causing a huge shockwave.

"Tidal Shield!" Dolph sent up a huge tidal wave, canceling out the shockwave and continuing to rush toward the leader. It sent him staggering backwards, but not too much damage was done.

"Huh," he said smirking. "Looks like your bark is worse than your bite. Take this! Storm Barrage!" He launched himself at Dolph; his fists moving like pistons lightning quick.

"Dolph, no!" Serena cried as Dolph took hit after hit after hit.

The navi backed off, grinning evilly. "No one could come back after that," he told his gang.

"N-n-no one, except h-h-her," one said, pointing a shaking finger.

"What?" The boss whirled around to see Dolph still standing there a smirk etched on her face.

"Whoa, she hardly took any damage from that attack," Serena said in amazement and relief. "Either that, or she recovered really quickly."

"That the best you got?" Dolph said.

The boss stared her in disbelief for a moment, then turned and ran out of the alley. "Let's get outta here, boys!"

"You got it, boss!"

"And don't come back!" Dolph shouted after them, and suddenly collapsed, her colors returning to normal.

"Dolph!" Serena cried. "I'm logging you out now."

_Dolph, logging out._

"Dolph, what happened?" Serena asked urgently.

"I… I don't know," Dolph said weakly. "I remember being grabbed by them, then there was this light, and after that… it's all a blur. And now, I feel… drained."

"Let's get home so I can plug you in to recharge."

"But what about the groceries?"

"Mom will understand." _I hope, _she thought.

"Ok, I guess. You mind if I shut down for a 'till then."

"Go ahead, if it makes you feel better." Serena watched the screen go black with the words "Standby Mode" written across it. _I hope that whatever happened doesn't damage her permanently. But I wonder what it was? It's not like I can ask anyone else what it was, 'cause no else has probably had it happen before. Oh well…

* * *

_

Back in the Cyberworld, the four navis continued running until their leader halted them. The three leaned against a wall, gasping for breath; while their boss turned back toward the way they had come, staring. "Wha…whaddya think that was?" one of the three managed to gasp out. The other two just shook their heads.

"I think I know," their leader said suddenly. "And I think I know someone who would be very interested in this little incident…"

* * *

Wow, what an intriguing first chapter! I don't know about the rest of you, but that little thing with Dolph seemed kinda familiar… but that's just me.

Now that this is over, you wanna know what happens next? You get to review! Isn't that exciting? It's not? Well, do it anyway!


	2. First Strike

It's Ch. 2! (pause) Well, duh, of course it is. It's the second one and… Never mind, I just went off for a sec there.

Anyway, you know that feeling when you know something really cool and you can't tell anyone but you really, really, want to? Now you know how I feel about this fic.

_I feel that way in some ways._

I'm trying my best to get it up and running as quickly as reasonable. Not too fast, not too slow. So why not just get onto the fic already?

_Yeah…let's get to it!

* * *

_

Back at an undisclosed location, two people met. One, an older shaggy looking fellow, and the other, a younger man. The first made his report. "Sir, through my vast networks of information, I've managed to locate another one of the pieces."

"Very good. What is the status of securing it?"

"My navi is going to lead a first strike team as soon as we are finished here."

"Lead from the rear, you mean?" The older one shifted nervously, but made no response. "And what about the other one you found earlier?"

"Well, given his skills, I took the liberty of sending one of our agents in to scope out the situation before we plan anything."

"Very well then, carry on and report once you have completed your work."

The older man nodded and started to walk out, but the other one stopped him by grabbing him on the shoulder. "I expect to hear good news," he added, before giving him a shove out of the room.

He watched the other scurry out before returning back to his work. _Two found, two to go.

* * *

_

"Heads up, Lan!"

Lan quickly ducked an attack from a nearby Spikey virus before blasting it. "Thanks for the warning."

Lee grinned. "It's why I'm here."

Lee and Lan were practicing on working together in the dimensional area generator as they had for the past couple of days. Lee was getting more and more used to the work out, and more comfortable with Cyber Glove.

"Okay, next round." Dr. Hikari reported after the two of them had deleted the remaining viruses. A few keystrokes and the area began to fill with more viruses; this time it was Swordy and Metrid viruses.

"Great," Lee groaned. "Close range and long range. You take the Swordys and I'll take the others."

Lan nodded and headed off. "Long Sword, battlechip in!" One after another, the viruses fell to Lan's speeding blade.

Across the area, Lee faced a line of Metrids. One by one, they lined up and raised their flaming staffs. "Oh, shoot." Lee said. Meteors came flying toward him. _Too many to dodge them all,_ he thought. _So I'll just have to get rid of some._ "Aqua Blade, battlechip in, download!" Any meteor that came directly toward him was severed into fragments.

"Here they come again," Cypher warned.

"And they're all lined up in a nice formation, ready to be deleted. Wide Shot, battlechip in, download!" Lee leveled the weapon and readied to fire it.

"Fountain, battlechip in!" Lan got there first and blasted a huge stream of cyber water into the Metrids, wiping them all out.

"Good job boys, that's all for today." Dr. Hikari reported.

Lee glared at Lan as the dimensional area shut down and Lan came out of cross-fusion. "What'd you do that for? I had them right where I wanted them!"

Lan shrugged. "You were too slow." With that he walked off.

Lee glared after him. "He's right, you know." Cypher said. "Maybe we _were_ just too slow. Shrug it off, we'll get 'em next time."

"No." Cypher did a double take at the way Lee answered. "I can't shrug it off. It's been bugging me for a while, and I just have to let it out." Lee continued talking as he exited the room and headed out of Sci-Lab. "Just because we can't cross-fuse, Lan thinks he's better than us."

Cypher tried reasoning with him. "Are you sure or are you just jumping to conclusions?"

Lee ignored him. "Just because the Cyber Glove has some strong points doesn't mean that it completely makes up the difference."

"So you're saying that Lan rubs it in a little too much?" Cypher surmised.

"Unintentionally, yes, but it still chafes."

Cypher grinned. "So we just gotta train harder to beat him."

"Or get our hands on a Synchro-chip."

"Which is pretty much impossible."

"Yea, I know. Let's not talk about this anymore and just get home."

"Good idea." Cypher advised and put on a big grin. "Sooo… Nice day, isn't it?"

* * *

As soon as Serena arrived home, she hurried up to her room, jacked Dolph into her PC to recharge and then headed back downstairs to check in with her mom. "Hi Mom, sorry about the groceries. It's just that something came up with Dolph and I wanted to get her home as soon as possible." 

"That's okay. I guess we'll just have to do with leftovers tonight. How is Dolph anyway?"

"I don't know. She's recharging, and I'll ask Dad to look at her when he gets home."

"Alright then, don't forget to do your homework!"

"I won't, Mom. I'm going to do it right now anyway." Serena walked back up to her room and checked on Dolph's recovery. No progress had been made as far as she could tell. Serena sighed and sat down at her desk, pulling out her books. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Over the next hour or two, Serena worked, occasionally glancing up to check on Dolph. Her status barely changed throughout the entire time. That was the way it went until Serena heard her mother calling her. "Serena! Wash up for dinner!"

"OK, Mom!" she called back and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

On her way back, she noticed something flashing on the screen of her PC as she passed her room. She hurried in to find out what it was. The screen read: "Recovery program interrupted."

"Dolph!" She tapped a few keys and a window popped up showing her the Cyberworld of her PC. Four navis had broken into her homepage and were attempting to navi-nap Dolph. One, a strange gray one seemed to be the leader. The other three were the thugs who had accosted Dolph earlier that afternoon.

_I've got to get help! But from who?_ Serena glanced around the room, searching for some form of inspiration. She got it from staring out the window. Without another single thought she dashed from the room and down to the front door.

* * *

Lee, having found nothing else to talk about, had returned to the subject of cross-fusion. "But why can't I get a Synchro-chip? It's only fair since I'm a Net Saver." 

"Yea, but there's only two possible ones," Cypher pointed out. "One is Lan's and the other is Chaud's."

"But Chaud never uses his anymore." Lee pointed out further. He was about to go on when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. "Hey, what's the…" He stopped short when he saw who had grabbed him. A young girl, who looked to be at least three or four years younger than him, in a black shirt with sea blue colored jacket, skirt and shoes and blue hair wrapped in the style of a dolphin tail, stood in front of him, looking close to tears.

"Please, you've got to help me!" she said breathlessly. "My navi…"

Lee put up a hand to silence her. "Which way?" he asked.

Lee noticed the extremely grateful look that lit up the girl's face before she took off back the way had came. As he ran after her, he noticed flashes of a symbol on the back of her jacket as her hair bounced around. It looked like a dolphin jumping in the air. _I think I see a theme here…_

Lee followed the girl all the way back to what he assumed was her house. They nearly knocked down a woman standing by the door, her mother apparently. "Serena, is everything alright?" she asked.

Serena kept on going, but Lee stopped for a moment. "Don't worry, ma'am," he said in his most official sounding voice. "The situation is under—Ack!" Serena had come back and grabbed him again, throwing him off balance. "Control!" he shouted back to the very confused woman as he was dragged upstairs.

Lee took in the situation at a glance. The four navis had very nearly succeeded in getting out of the homepage onto the Net. They were carrying a female navi in a blue suit with light blue wavy lines all over it and dark blue armor on her chest, shoulders, and shins. On her helmet was a fin sticking out of the top with her symbol on either side. More fins were on her arms and the back of her legs. Her hair was exactly like Serena's. The navi seemed to be struggling, but very weakly. Serena waited anxiously behind him. "What are you going to do?"

"Action first, planning later in this case, right, Cypher?"

"Sure, if you say so."

"OK, time for some community service! Jack in! Cypher, power up!"

Back in the Cyberworld, the four navis were carrying Dolph toward the exit. "Geez, she sure is heavy for a little navi!" one complained.

"Or maybe you're just weak," his partner snickered.

"Hey!"

"Never mind that," the strange looking gray one said, glancing around nervously. "We're almost out."

"Almost is as far as you're gonna get."

All four turned to see Cypher leaning nonchalantly near the exit. Calmly he straightened up, crossing his arms. "Didn't you guys ever learn not to take stuff that isn't yours?"

The four laid Dolph down and the three thugs started to advance while the gray one backed off nervously. "What can you do against four of us?" The leader said, smirking.

_Three_, thought the gray navi.

Cypher matched his smirk. "More than you thugs could imagine, or even comprehend for that matter."

The thug's smirk was replaced by a frown. "Why you little-"

Cypher waved a finger at him. "Watch your mouth, sir. There are ladies present."

"Electro Sword, battlechip in, double download!"

Cypher launched himself at the nearest thug, dispatching him before he could even react.

_Netnavi, deleted._  
The second one managed to upload a Fighter Sword before Cypher got to him. Cypher caught his blade between the two of his, held it for a moment, then leapt out of the way as he let it go, causing the thug's Sword to get stuck in the ground: An easy target.

_Netnavi, deleted._

The leader backed off slightly. He called for assistance from the gray navi who was gradually slinking over to the exit in a wide circle. "Oy, Ratso, how 'bout some help over here?"

Ratso (for that's what the gray navi's name was, and a fitting name it was, too; he looked like a rat) had a dark gray suit with light gray armor that formed points on his shoulders, shins, and chest. His helmet was a rat's head, with the teeth forming a black visor in front of his eyes. He also had a tail that formed to a needle-like point. His symbol was two gray blocks with a black triangle between them.

For a moment, it looked as if he was going to bolt for the exit, but then he reconsidered. Two mechanical-looking attachments on his arms began to glow and summoned several viruses into the area to back up the remaining thug. Luckily for Cypher and unluckily for them, he summoned Metrids.

"Well, this is a familiar situation," Cypher observed.

"You bet, only this time Lan isn't here to mess with it. Wide Shot, battlechip in, download!"

Cypher took out the Metrids almost as soon as the battlechip loaded up. He looked around for the thug. "Where'd you go?"

"Over here, navi!"

Cypher whirled around to see the leader thug holding Dolph in front of him with his arm across her neck. "Don't do anything drastic," Cypher warned him.

Ratso took advantage of the momentary distraction to get to the exit and log out.

"Or what? You'll attack?" The thug laughed. "You'd only hit _her_. And that wouldn't be very good for her in the condition she's in."

Lee could hear Serena gasp behind him. "It's a standoff, Cypher. Or at least until I think of something."

"Man, I hate standoffs! They're so boring."

"I know. In the meantime, move to block the exit so he can't get out with her."

Lee turned to Serena. "Any ideas?" She shook her head, still staring at the screen. Lee turned back to the screen. _Same here._

_

* * *

_

Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger, huh? What's gonna happen next? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned. That is, after you review. So REVIEW ALREADY!


	3. Similarities

_Sweet! I get to say the first thing this chapter!_

Whoop-dee-tap-dancing-doo for you.

_Uh, let's get this chapter on! Man that was short._

Yes, let's.

* * *

Lee stood glaring at the screen, trying to come up with a way out of this jam. In the Cyberworld, Cypher had positioned himself in front of the exit of Serena's homepage, facing off against the grinning thug and his hostage.

Serena stood behind and a little off to the side of Lee, watching the situation nervously. She kept glancing from Lee to her PC.

After a few minutes, Lee came up with a probable solution. He relayed the information to Cypher as quietly as possible so the thug wouldn't get wind of it. "Cypher," he whispered.

"Yea," came the reply.

"We're going to attack."

Cypher tried not to let his surprise show. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I'm just checking to make sure that you didn't mean to say we're going to pretend to attack."

"No, we're full on attacking. Just trust me on this."

"OK…"

Lee turned to Serena, who was standing there shocked at what she had just heard. "You're going to attack? But…"

Lee put up a hand. "First, don't say it too loud or else _he_ will hear. Second, you've just gotta trust me. Now, get your PET." Serena did so. "Where are your battlechips?"

"I don't have any."

Lee stared at her like she had nine heads. Or more. He shook it off. "Never mind, I'll just lend you one of mine." He gave her another look. "You _do_ know how to use them, don't you?" Serena nodded slowly. "OK, good."

Lee flipped open the compartments on his PET, selected two chips, and handed one to Serena. "Now, when I tell you, you load that in as fast as you can, alright?" he directed. Serena nodded again.

"OK, let's hope this works. Ready, Cypher?"

"I guess so."

"Step Cross, battlechip in, download!"

The thug grinned as the sword loaded in and Cypher speeded toward him.

Lee waited until the last possible second before yelling, "NOW!"

"Area Steal, battlechip in, download!"

Cypher smirked at the look of astonishment stamped on the thug's face as Dolph teleported to the other side of the homepage… leaving him wide open for Cypher's attack.

The thug staggered backwards, a glowing X across his chest. His data started breaking up. "This isn't the end of it," he shouted. "Now that they know, the organization will stop at nothing to get you! Both of you!"

_Net navi, deleted._

Cypher grinned. "We did it."

Lee let out a huge sigh of relief. He was nearly knocked over by Serena giving him a hug. "Thank you!" she said.

Lee smiled. "You're welcome, kid." He turned back to his PET. "Cypher, see how her navi's doing."

"Already on it." Cypher jogged across to where Dolph had landed, and was now trying to get up. Cypher held out a hand. "Here, let me help." Dolph grabbed it and Cypher pulled her upright. He found that he still had to support her a lot, though.

"Thanks," she said weakly.

"It's what I do." Cypher replied. "Are you OK?"

"I just feel… really…" She collapsed.

"Lee!" Cypher did a quick scan of her. "Her energy levels are extremely low. Like they've been…" He paused a second. "…drained."

Lee raised an eyebrow. _Almost exactly like what happened to Cypher a few days ago_, he thought. "OK, prepare for an emergency transfer." He quickly tapped a few commands into his PET.

Before long, Chaud's face showed up on the screen. "What is it, Lee?"

"Are you still at Sci-Lab?"

"Yea, why?"

"I'm transferring over a navi who needs immediate recovery attention, similar to what happened to Cypher the other day." Serena started to say something about that, but Lee waved her off.

"Okay, I'll let Dr. Hikari know," Chaud answered.

"Then I need you to come and pick me and the navi's Op up. We'll meet you part-way."

Chaud nodded and ended the transmission.

Lee tapped a final key and Dolph's data was transferred to Sci-Lab. He started to head out of the room, beckoning for Serena to follow him. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"We're going to meet a friend of mine who will take us to Sci-Lab. That's where your navi is."

"You mean we're going to see Dolph?"

"After she recovers, yes."

After explaining the situation to Serena's mother, who was still slightly confused about the whole thing, Lee and Serena began walking in the direction of Sci-lab. After a few moments of silence, Lee glanced over at her. He recognized the look of concern on her face. "Don't worry," he said, "it's gonna be OK."

"Yea, besides," Cypher added. "You're lookin' at one fully recovered Sci-lab patient right here."

Serena looked up. "You mean your navi got hurt once, too?"

Lee shrugged. "Sure, everyone's does sometime."

"But you're so good. You stopped those guys and saved Dolph easily."

"It only looks easy. There's a lot of work that goes into getting that good."

"And a lot of pain, too," Cypher put in.

"Well, you certainly make it look easy," Serena said. "I know that _I'll_ never be that good."

"Maybe someday," Lee said. "You just gotta work at it. Look, there's our ride."

Chaud's car pulled up and Lee and Serena climbed in. Chaud was waiting for them. "Dr. Hikari and Famous have already started working on the netnavi's recovery," he reported.

Lee nodded. "See," he said to Serena. "Everything's fine."

Serena gave a half smile.

Lee knew exactly what she was thinking. _That won't be true for me until I actually see Dolph fully recovered.

* * *

_

Upon arriving at Sci-lab, Lee and Serena waited outside the room where Dr. Hikari and Famous were working on Dolph. Chaud went off somewhere to do more work. Lee noticed that Serena still had that look on her face. "I told you that it's going to be OK," he said. "I had the exact same thing happen to my navi."

"Not exactly, exactly," Serena said still staring at the floor.

Lee took a deep breath. He had been waiting for a time to bring this up. "Actually, yes, exactly, exactly." Serena gave him a look. "Did anything weird happen to Dolph before those guys showed up?"

Serena thought for a moment. "As a matter of fact, yes. We were on our way to pick up some things for my mom. I had jacked Dolph in so she could go on ahead. On the way, she got cornered; by those same navis in fact, only the gray one wasn't there then. I was trying to get to her, when all of a sudden, this weird light surrounded her." Lee raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Next thing I knew, the colors of her outfit had switched around and she had this strange blue light constantly around her. She attacked, but her attacks didn't seem to do anything to the thugs. But when they attacked, their attacks didn't seem to do anything either. It was like she was instantly recovered or something. Anyway, they got scared off. Then, the light disappeared and she was all weak and everything. She said she couldn't really remember what had happened. But wait a minute, how did you know to ask that?"

"Because the same sort of thing happened to Cypher." Lee started. "We were fighting some guy, he got us good, and then that weird light came on. Cypher's colors got switched around, too, so he looked exactly like my brother's navi, and a strange _yellow_ light was around him. His speed went way up, but whenever he attacked, he got hurt instead, but whenever someone else attacked, they got hurt. Then it shut down and he got weak and everything, too."

"I don't really remember any of it either," Cypher added.

"Strange…" Serena said.

They both sat there a moment, thinking over what they each had related. Dr. Hikari interrupted them. "Excuse me, but we're done now."

Serena jumped up. "You mean I can see Dolph now?"

Dr. Hikari nodded. Serena dashed into the room. Lee followed behind her. "Hey, Dr. Hikari, what gives? That was way shorter than it took for Cypher."

Dr. Hikari smiled. "Two reasons, Lee. One: Cypher was the first time we had seen anything like that. Two: We were also making those modifications to your PET, remember?"

"Oh, right." Lee thought for a second. "Wait, you mean Cypher was the first navi ever to have something happen to him like that?"

"Yes, as far as I can remember. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason really."

The two of them walked into the room where Serena and Dolph were chatting away as if they hadn't seen each other for days. Lee watched them. "Well, they're definitely glad to see each other."

"That's for sure," Cypher said.

Serena spotted them and came over tugging at Lee's arm. "Come on, I want you to meet Dolph."

Lee allowed himself to be dragged over to the console where Dolph was on the screen. Serena began introductions. "This is my navi, Dolph."

Dolph smiled and waved. "Hiya."

"And Dolph, this is… I'm sorry, I don't think I ever got your name," she said apologetically.

"It's Lee."

"Oh, OK. Dolph, this is Lee."

Lee acknowledged her with a small, quick salute. Then he thought of something. "Oh hey, do you wanna meet your rescuer?"

"Lee…" Cypher said nervously. Lee ignored him.

Dolph nodded vigorously.

"Alright then, here he comes."

"But, Lee!" Before Cypher could protest further, Lee had already jacked him into the console with Dolph. He stood nervously off to one side. "Um, hi."

"Hi there," Dolph said cheerfully. "Thanks for saving me."

"Hmm? Oh yeah, that. Well, uh… you're welcome."

Dolph hurried over and gave Cypher a big hug. He just stood there, blushing. Lee and Serena both laughed. "Um… could you let go of me now?" Cypher pleaded.

* * *

Afterwards, Lee met with Dr. Hikari. "Well," he started. "I'm glad that it all worked out." Dr. Hikari simply nodded, expecting that there was more to it. "Dr. Hikari?"

"Yes, Lee…"

"During Dolph's recovery, did you… I don't know, find anything similar about her data compared to Cypher's?"

"No, nothing that jumps out."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"No, nothing. Why do you ask? First, there was that reaction to me saying that Cypher was the only navi we had encountered so far with those types of problems and now this. I can tell you're thinking about something, Lee. What's going on?"

"I don't know…" Lee said, half to Dr. Hikari and half to himself. "I really don't know…"

* * *

What _is_ going on? You could guess in your reviews, though it's really to vague to make a good one. Guess you'll just have to wait for next chapter. R&R and later days! 


	4. Chaos

Well, here it is: Ch. 4.

_About time if you ask me._

Oh yes, and by the way, the next chapter will be written by Vyser. How's that going?

_I have the blueprints all laid out in my mind._

Of course before that we still have to get through this chapter. So let's get to it!

* * *

After a final check, Dr. Hikari declared Dolph fully recovered and ready to be taken home. Chaud offered Lee and Serena a ride back to Serena's house. They both accepted. "But first," Lee added. "There's somewhere else I need to take Serena."

Serena looked at him questioningly.

"You'll see…" he told her, before they drove off.

* * *

Under Lee's direction, Chaud's driver took them into the city. Before long, they arrived in front of Higsby's chip shop. "Why are we _here_?" Serena asked.

"You need battlechips," Lee said simply. "Especially after what happened today."

Lee asked Chaud to wait for them while he and Serena went inside.

"Whoa…" Serena gasped at all the chips lined up on the walls. "Are there really that many different kinds of battlechips?"

"Something for everyone," Lee said as Higsby came from the back room.

"How can I help you today?" he asked.

"Well, I heard about this place from a friend and I thought I'd check it out."

"And who might be your friend?"

"Lan Hikari."

Lee was suddenly seized by the hand as Higsby began pumping it up and down enthusiastically. "You're a friend of Lan's? Well, welcome to Higsby's! I'm Higsby!"

Lee managed to get his arm away from Higsby. "I figured that," he mumbled. Serena giggled. "I just need your basic Netbattler's battlechip folder," Lee said.

"One folder coming up. It'll take a few minutes to get it ready. In the mean time, feel free to browse. Who knows?" Higsby winked at them. "You might find something else you like."

Lee nodded slowly, looking at Higsby very strangely. "Right…"

Higsby continued talking as he disappeared into the back room. "You know, you're very lucky that you showed up when you did, because I was just about ready to close up shop."

"That's great," Lee muttered, moving away to look at the shelves. _Geez, this guy won't shut up once he gets going.

* * *

_

Meanwhile, outside, Chaud noticed some movement in an alleyway near the shop while he was waiting for Lee and Serena to come out. He could see someone talking on their PET suspiciously. After a minute, they nodded and headed toward the shop. Chaud quickly ducked out of sight as they passed him and entered the shop, just in case it was someone he didn't want to be spotted by.

* * *

Lee didn't turn around when he heard the door open. He simply glanced over his shoulder at the person who walked in. Then he turned around all the way and stared a moment. "Um, Cypher, I need a second opinion, but I think that's…"

"It is!"

"That's all I needed to know." Lee slowly turned and walked over behind the person, who was looking up and down the shelves of chips. Keeping a straight face, he stood behind them and said, "I don't think you're here for chips, young lady."

The girl turned and matched his seriousness. "No, I'm here for _you._"

They stood glaring at each other for a minute, then burst out laughing. "Hey, it's great to see you again, Allie!" Lee said. "You sure have changed a lot since I last saw you."

"Well so have you," said Allie. She had black hair down to her shoulders, a white shirt and shoes, and a blue vest and a long dark blue skirt.

"Your order's ready," Higsby reported. He noticed Allie. "Oh, can I help you?"

Allie shook her head. "No, I'm just here for him."

Apparently, Higsby took that the wrong way. "Oh, how nice. I wish I had a relationship like that. But, alas, she is too good for me." There was a pause. "But I'll never give up trying!" he added.

Lee clapped a hand to his forehead as Allie looked away, blushing. "No, she didn't mean it like that! She… Never mind, how much do I owe you?"

"Calculation, please, Numberman."

"6000 zenny," Numberman replied, rather quickly.

"That'll be 6000 zenny," Higsby repeated.

"I know. I just heard him say it," Lee murmured.

Serena began digging out her PET, but Lee went ahead and brought his out in front of the register. "This is on me," he said.

Serena looked as if she was going to protest, but then decided against it. "Thanks," she said.

After he transferred the appropriate amount of Net Cash to Higsby's register, Lee took the package off the counter and handed it to her. "Now I expect you to train with this, just in case anymore bad guys come after you."

Serena nodded. "I will."

Then the three of them walked outside. Chaud met them and noticed Allie. "Who's she?" he asked.

"An old friend," Lee explained. "Kind of lucky we came here today, isn't it?"

"Yea…" _And a little too convenient,_ Chaud added mentally.

"Well, anyway, Chaud, you go ahead and take Serena home. Allie and I are gonna catch up a little. I'll meet you tomorrow back here, OK, Serena?"

"OK, see you tomorrow!"

Chaud and Serena got into his car and drove away. Lee let out a huge sigh. "Phew, I never knew babysitting could be so much work," he said.

"Babysitting, huh?" Allie teased.

"Well, not exactly _babysitting_. I only just met her today and I've been trying to keep her out of trouble." They began walking down the street together.

"You mean like playing bodyguard?"

Lee pulled a face at her and changed the subject. "Anyway, how's it been going with you?"

"Oh, you know. Same old same old."

"Yea, pretty much the same here." _Besides the fact that I'm a Net Saver now._" How's your navi?"

Allie pulled out a dark blue PET with black accents. "She's still here… I think."

The female navi on the screen put her hands on her hips. "Ha, ha."

Cypher grinned. "Nice to see ya again, Cheval."

Cheval had a black suit, light blue armor on her chest, arms and shins, as well as her left shoulder, and a bow attached to her right arm. Black hair came from the back of her blue helmet like the way a knight chess piece has it. Her symbol, a horse's head with a silver arrow in its mouth, was on the right side of her chest armor. (Cheval is the French word for horse, and it's pronounced "Shuh-vall" just in case you didn't know.)

The two continued walking down the street silently for a moment. Lee had a thought as they rounded a corner. "Hey Allie, your good with computers and stuff, right?"

Allie nodded. "One of the best, as you might remember."

"Well, I was wondering, could you run a scan on Cypher? There's something I want to check out."

Allie was puzzled at the strange request, but obliged anyway. "Sure, my place is just a few blocks down."

Cypher whispered to Lee as they followed Allie down the street. "Why didn't you just ask Dr. Hikari to run the scan?"

"Cypher, he's a professional scientist. He doesn't have time to investigate every little thing. Besides, this might just be a wild goose chase."

"Alright, if you say so… But I think investigating is what scientists do."

* * *

Upon arriving at Allie's family's apartment, Lee and Allie moved into a makeshift computer lab. "You'll have to excuse the mess," Allie apologized. "We only just got here and haven't had time to fully unpack."

Lee shifted over a few boxes and sat down on one. "Ha, you should see Mac's room," he said.

Lee jacked Cypher into the PC and Allie began typing in commands. "What exactly are we looking for?" she asked.

Lee shrugged. "Anything out of the ordinary."

"Gee, that really limits it," Cypher commented.

"You be quiet." Lee said, pointing at the screen. "Or I'll have Allie remove your voice program."

Cypher pulled a face that said, "Ooo, I'm scared," but didn't say anything else.

A couple hours later, nothing major had occurred, but Lee was still persistent. "There's gotta be something we aren't trying."

"Lee, trust me," Allie said. "If it's possible to do, we've done it. Isn't it time you got home?"

"Not until I figure this thing out." Lee stood and stretched, stiff from sitting on that box the whole time. He continued thinking as he paced what little space there was in the room. "We've looked at programming errors, data corruption, and bunches of other stuff…what else could be the cause?"

"Well, we could try scanning for specific data frequencies," Allie suggested.

"Data what-cies?" Lee and Cypher both said.

"Data frequencies," Cheval repeated. "All types of data give off a wide range of different frequencies of electromagnetic waves. Some kinds, usually specially engineered types, give off only one specific frequency though."

Allie continued working as she explained further. "Right, so what we do is find a frequency that differs from the overall frequency that Cypher's data gives off. If the data only gives off one frequency, it won't change to blend in." She continued to hit keys. After a few moments: "And… got it!"

Lee came back over toward the screen. Half the screen was the actual view of Cypher in Allie's PC's Cyberworld; the other half was a window showing an outline of Cypher. A green target hovered over a blinking gold dot in the outline's shoulder. "So how do we find out what the data is?" Lee asked.

"Like this." Allie said, tapping a few more keys. The window showing Cypher shrank and moved off to the side to make room for another window. It showed a picture of a 3-D brown wedge with a gold lightning bolt on it next to a block of text.

"Now _that_ I recognize," Lee said, pointing to the bolt.

"Yea, it looks like my symbol." Cypher put in.

"Actually, I was gonna say it looked like the symbol on Elec type chips."

"I'd say Lee is closer," Allie said. "The text says the data is called 'Elec Chaos Data.'"

"'Elec Chaos', huh? What else does it say?"

Allie gestured to the text that was scrolling across the screen. "It gives a basic readout of what the data will do when activated in a navi."

"Like…" Lee prompted.

"It jacks up the navi's speed status way high. Also, the navi gains the ability to reflect attacks."

"Cool! I remember that happening," Lee said.

"Yea, but…" Cypher started to add.

"But whenever the navi attacks, it does damage to itself also," Allie finished.

"Oh." Lee said, a little less enthusiastically. "I remember that now, too."

"Thanks," Cypher said. "I sure do."

Allie pointed to the 3D image. "You see these little cuts in the sides of the wedge? What does that remind you of?"

Lee rubbed his chin. "I'd say a puzzle piece…" Allie nodded. Lee thought a moment. "Wait, you mean there could be more of them?"

"Most likely."

"Hey, that could be what happened to Dolph!" Cypher commented. "I'd bet my core data on it."

"I'll take that bet," Lee joked.

"Here," Allie said, starting to hit more keys. "I'll give you a way to check. I'm creating a program you can insert into Cypher that will allow him to scan for the specific frequency the Chaos Data gives off. Once it's detected, the readout for the Data will come up on your PET screen."

She hit a final key and a data disc popped out of a drive in her PC. She handed it to Lee, who slipped it into his PET. A small window opened, registering the upload. "Geez, I hate these abbreviated names. 'ChsVsn?'" Lee read off the screen.

"Chaos Vision." Cypher translated. He stared at his shoulder. "I can see the data right now." Through his visor, Cypher could see a glowing yellow wedge embedded in his right shoulder.

"And I can see it here," Lee reported, seeing the Elec Chaos readout pop up on his PET screen.

"Then we're all set," Allie said, getting up. "It was nice seeing you guys again."

"Yea, you too," Lee agreed, logging Cypher out of the PC and heading to the door behind Allie.

"Just a warning," Allie said, before she let them out. "This Chaos Data sounds rare and powerful. It might attract some unwanted and dangerous attention. So watch your back."

"Hey, it's me!" Lee said, smirking. "When have I ever let a few bad guys stop me?"

Allie just had to smile. "Alright, go on."

"See ya 'round! Why don't you meet me and Serena tomorrow at Higsby's?"

"Sorry, I've got plans." Allie watched Lee walk down the street from her window. After he was out of sight, she pulled out her PET. "Yea, I've got plans…"

* * *

Later that night, at our favorite undisclosed location…

"You what!"

The older man cringed away from his leader. "I'm sorry, Leo, sir, but the other one showed up and I couldn't handle him."

"You didn't even try!" Leo shouted at him. "I told you Ratso would lead from behind, though it might have been in good humor then, but it certainly isn't now!"

"I'm sorry, I'll do better next time."

"If there is a next time for you…" Leo thought out loud as he sat down. The other stayed where he was, not sure what to expect.

Leo's PET, red with white accents, suddenly rang. He picked it up offhandedly and listened to the report. A slow smile emerged on his face. After the person on the other end finished, he put it away. "Well, Capricorn, it seems _one_ of our agents can do something right. I've just received a report on where _both_ of our targets will be tomorrow morning."

"Excellent, sir. What would you like me to do?" Capricorn asked nervously.

"You? You shall do nothing." Leo pressed a button next to him and held it down. "Agent Virgo, report to central command." He let go of the button.

Soon after, another person walked in the room. "Yes?"

Leo got right into business. "Tomorrow morning both of our targets will be meeting at a local chip shop. When they arrive…" He pointed at Virgo. "…_you_ will be ready for them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly." With that, Virgo walked out.

"Excellent." Leo sat back, relaxing. He appeared to notice Capricorn for the first time. "What're you still doing here? Get out!" Capricorn rushed out all too quickly, all too gratefully.

* * *

There it is, another good cliffy. (Just to bug you, Jabber) I just gotta say that I am so proud of myself for all the techy BS I pulled in this chapter about that whole data frequencies thing. Sounded pretty convincing didn't it?

_Sure, if you say so._

Well, anyway I should probably let Vyser get back to work on Ch. 5.

_Yes, I'll go do that now._

Sure. And I'll let all of you guys get to reviewing. Later days!


	5. Duel of the Tigers

_Finally! My chance to write a chapter!_

Woo-hoo yeah.

_Well that's your opinion…we'll see what the reviewers think._

Yea, we'll see if they can tell the difference. Maybe we shouldn't tell them who wrote it from now on and they have to guess? Anyways, we should probably get moving.

_You're right! We need to get this chapter on the road! So without further delay! The next chapter!

* * *

_

The morning sun had hardly risen when a mysterious teenaged guy appeared near Higsby's Chip Shop. The still lit streetlights illuminated only a fraction of his short spiky hair while his other features were in the dark… literally. In his hand was an active white PET with black stripes all over it.

"So is this the place?" asked the teen as he lifted his PET to his face.

"According to the data Master Virgo," replied a deep voice from the PET. "This is the place."

"I honestly thought that my triumphant victory would be in a much better place…" sighed Virgo as he walked around the shop. "Oh well, guess we can't really choose our places of battle."

"What should I do when I'm in there?"

"Set a voice command to the viruses that the coward Ratso and his pathetic Netop Capricorn, created for us," cursed Virgo as he found a jack port on the outside of the shop. "Then after you set the command I'll download the dummy data."

"Ah… our technique that has conquered many a different navis. So where do you plan on taking this battle?"

"Time will tell, Tigre… time will tell," replied Virgo as he opened the jack port. "Now jack in."

* * *

Lee yawned as he leaned up against Higsby's Chip Shop.

"I take it you're bored, Lee," commented Cypher as Lee yawned again.

"What was your first clue?" replied Lee as he stretched his arms. "The shop's open and who knows when Serena will get here."

"You waiting as well?"

"Huh?" questioned Lee as he turned to see who asked him the question.

The person who Lee saw was a teenaged guy who looked a little older than Lee himself. The teen had short spiky hair; he had an average build, and two painted tiger stripes under his eyes. A white short-sleeved jacket hung over his body; under the jacket was a black muscle shirt that had white tiger stripes all over it. And then black pants that were ripped at the knees, as well white and black shoes. The teenaged guy had a plastered grin on his face.

"I said 'you waiting as well?" repeated the teen as Lee sighed.

"I know what you said, I was just wondering who said it," replied Lee. "Who exactly are you anyway?"

"You can call me Virgo!"

As Virgo extended his hand, Lee just looked confused.

"Something the matter?" asked Virgo as he dropped his hand to his side.

"Isn't Virgo the girl?" asked Lee as Virgo looked shocked.

"Why does everyone say that?" moaned Virgo as he lowered his head.

"Hey Lee!"

"Finally! Serena bout time you got here," said Lee as Serena walked over, turning her head to see Virgo moping.

"Uh, Lee who's this?" asked Serena as Virgo suddenly cheered up with a smiley face getting back to his proper posture.

"Well hello there! My name is Virgo." Virgo introduce as he offered his hand and Serena stepped back a little.

Serena said nothing as Virgo lowered his hand again.

"A shy one eh? Oh well, talk to ya later," said Virgo as he walked into Higsby's shop.

As Virgo walked into the shop, Lee could see a very interesting symbol on the back of Virgo's jacket. It was two tiger stripes crossing over a white field incased in a golden ring.

"Well, he's certainly an… eccentric person," commented Lee as he scratched the back of his head.

"I would've said overly friendly," replied Cypher from the PET.

"So what kind of battle chips are we getting today Lee?" asked Serena as she and Lee began to make their way into the battle chip shop.

"Stronger offense chips as well as a few good defensive chips," answered Lee as the two entered the chip shop to see Virgo looking all over the place. _This guy just keeps getting weirder._

"Ah, hello again you two," greeted Higsby from behind the counter.

"Yeah…were kind of looking for some good attack and defense chips," replied Lee as Higsby walked from behind counter.

"Ah yes, we've got the best around! Let me show you!" offered Mr. Higsby as Lee gulped.

"We'll just look around," replied Lee as Higsby sighed.

"Very well," moaned Higsby as he returned behind the counter.

"Hey, Higsby right?" asked Virgo as Higsby turned towards Virgo. "You wouldn't happen to have a couple of battle chips called 'Cefiro Claw'?"

"That's an incredibly rare battle chip! Only a few were given out in a contest!" announced Higsby as a couple of sparks shot from the cash register. "Huh?"

All of a sudden, many sparks started to fly from every electric out put in the chip shop. Everyone ducked in cover as the sparks started to fly.

"Numberman! What is happening in the system?" yelled Higsby as he lifted his PET.

"Viruses! They just came from nowhere! And there's this big Navi…" replied Numberman from the PET before a loud roar erupted from what came from everywhere in the shop. "Wait… what are you doing? Keep away from me!"

"Numberman!" yelled Higsby as suddenly another voice came from inside the store.

"Jack in the chaos navis," growled a cybernetic voice.

_Whatever that is… does it mean the Chaos data?_ thought Lee as he readied Cypher to jack into the net.

"Lee do you think this has to do with…" started Cypher as Lee nodded.

"Yeah… whoever's behind this must be with that group who tried to get Dolph," finished Lee as he turned to Serena. "Whatever you do, don't jack in Dolph."

"Right," replied Serena as Lee spotted a jack in port that didn't seem to be affected by the sparks.

"Jack in! Cypher, power up!" announced Lee as he sent Cypher into the cyber world.

As soon as Cypher entered the chip shop's system, he quickly spotted many viruses that resembled Spikey viruses only they were white with tiger stripes and large fangs. As Cypher took a step forward, all of the viruses turned towards him.

"Lee some help would be appreciated," said Cypher as the tiger like viruses began to charge towards him.

"You got it! Elec Sword, battlechip in, download!" replied Lee as Cypher's right hand became a cyber sword with sparks flying off it.

"Elec Sword!" yelled Cypher as he charged towards the running tiger viruses.

One by one, slash by slash, the tiger viruses were deleted with one quick swipe of Cypher's elec sword. As soon as Cypher stabbed the last of the tiger viruses to pixels, a flying navi was thrown into him sending both to the cyber ground. The navi that was thrown into him was a green navi that had a large orb on his head that glowed like a disco ball.

"This must be Numberman," moaned Cypher as he pushed the dazed Numberman off of him before standing.

"Hope you be much better opponent than weakling there, navi of elec chaos," growled a harsh voice as Cypher turned around to see a huge navi.

"Oh crud," gulped Cypher as the huge navi cracked his knuckles.

The navi had the head of a gray saber tooth tiger with dark gray armor on his body. The navi was very muscular and had claws on his fingers and boots. The navi didn't really seem to have a symbol.

"Me name be Saber Tooth.EXE, but you call me your doom!" yelled the gray saber tooth navi as he jumped towards Cypher with his claws outstretched.

"Whoa!" yelled Cypher as he barely managed to dodge the attack.

"What the? This guy's fast," said Lee as he took a battle chip. "But can he handle this? Area Steal, battlechip in, download!"

"Nice try big guy!" yelled Cypher as he disappeared before Saber Tooth attacked again.

"ROCK CUBE!" roared Saber Tooth as suddenly a rock cube appeared behind him, which he immediately kicked backwards.

"Cypher, look out!" yelled Lee but it was too late. Cypher had appeared just as the rock cube slammed right into him.

"How'd _this_ guy do _that_?" asked Cypher before Saber Tooth jumped onto Cypher, pinning him to the ground and also destroying the Elec Sword. "AGH!"

"For navi to have chaos data, me really expect better," commented Saber Tooth as he raised one of his claws ready to stab his downed opponent. "Beggars not choosers."

"Jack in! Tigre! And M-Cannon!"

All of a sudden in a flash of light, a concentrated red cyber blast shot Saber Tooth in the back. As Saber Tooth turned around Cypher managed to get a look at the navi that stood in front of him. The navi had a helmet that looked like a white tiger head with a black visor covering his eyes, on his chest is a tiger head with an open mouth with his symbol on the tiger's forehead. Also on the navi was white armor with black stripes, tiger tail, claws on fingers, shin guards and tiger feet covering his black jumpsuit. His right hand was returning from the form of a red cannon.

"Who you fool?" growled Saber Tooth as he walked towards the new tiger navi.

"You're a disgrace to the tiger," replied the tiger navi. "My name is of no concern to you… especially seeing as how you'll be deleted soon."

"Whose navi is that?" asked Lee as he looked around the shop to see Virgo giving a thumbs up towards him. "It's his?"

"Me ask again! Who you fool?" roared Saber Tooth before he took a swipe towards the tiger navi who just disappeared for a mere second. "Where you go?"

"If my name is important to you…" replied the tiger navi who had appeared on the back of Saber Tooth. "It's Tigre."

"Then delete!" roared Saber Tooth as he began to fall backwards.

"Cefiro Claw! Battle chip in and download!" announced Virgo as Tigre disappeared once more before Saber Tooth had fallen onto his back.

After Saber Tooth had gotten up, he suddenly got a pay into his back. Tigre had sunken his claws deep into Saber Tooth's back. Saber Tooth roared in pain as he tried to grab Tigre off his back.

"Get off me you annoyance!" roared Saber Tooth as Cypher got up.

"We can't let this guy have all the fun now can we Lee?" asked Cypher as Lee smirked.

"You're absolutely right. Then how about this? Spreader, battlechip in, download!" replied Lee as he activated the battle chip and Cypher's right hand became a multiple cannon.

"Spreader!" yelled Cypher as he shot many blasts towards the struggling Saber Tooth.

"WHAT!" roared Saber Tooth before he was blasted multiple times while Tigre had managed to get off in time. "Rrrrrrgggggggaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

"Let's finish this Tigre! Tiger Roar!" yelled Virgo as Tigre covered his chest with his arms. Suddenly his muscles all over his arms, legs and torso began to get bigger.

"Sounds good to me!" yelled Tigre as he threw his arms to his sides as an orb of white and dark energy appeared in the tiger's mouth on his chest. "TIGER ROAR!"

From the mouth erupted a huge burst of white and black energy that had grown quickly and engulfed Saber Tooth. The only way you could tell that Saber Tooth was still there was the roar of pain that was quickly silenced. In the place of Saber Tooth was just a crater and floating pieces of data (which was safe to assume to be Saber Tooth). Meanwhile, in the real world the sparks had stopped flying all over the place while Virgo and Lee had returned Tigre and Cypher back to their PETs.

"What power," said Lee as everyone began to stand back up. "Good thing he's a good guy."

"Man that Saber Tooth was a disgrace," said Virgo as he smiled.

"You used that Cefiro Claw!" announced Higsby as everyone sighed. "That chip could only be won in a certain tournament… Wait, you wouldn't happen to be Virgo?"

"That's my name," replied Virgo as Serena whispered to Lee.

"What just happened?" whispered Serena.

"It was another guy who was after Cypher… but he's gone now," whispered back Lee.

"You know, I was expecting a girl to have won that Cefiro battle chip," commented Higsby as Virgo anime dropped to the ground.

"Why do people always say that?" moaned Virgo as everyone else chuckled. _Phase one… check. I've got their trust.

* * *

_

Okay, now before we sign off this time, I've got a little announcement… I've got a new Megaman fic up! (Woohoo yeah!) You can get to it from my profile page so I'll let you discover the juicy details by yourselves. Later days!


	6. Virgo

_Yay! I get to write another chapter!_

Well, you asked to and I graciously allowed it.

_True, true, yet I do have fanfics other than this, as most of you are aware of._

Yes, I would hate it if those started to lack because of your work on this one.

_Right my friend; let's get on with the chapter.

* * *

_

"Seriously! Why do people consider me a girl?" sobbed Virgo while Higsby scratched the back of his head.

"Well, your name is Virgo," commented Higsby as he knelt down to the glass cabinet under the register. "Anyway, Lee, Virgo, I've got some battlechips that you might be interested in. Consider them thanks for getting rid of that Saber Tooth navi." Higsby stood back up with two battlechips in his hand.

"Wow! For free?" asked Lee, as he was about to take one of the battlechips when Higsby quickly pulled back his hand. "What?"

"I didn't say for free… for a discount maybe," replied Higsby as Lee and Virgo sweat dropped while Serena chuckled a little. "Ten percent to be precise."

"Fine," growled Lee as he and Virgo reached for their wallets.

_Cheapskate._

_Weirdo._

"So what kind of chips would you suggest for me?" asked Serena after Lee and Virgo paid for their battlechips.

"Well let's see what we've got…" started Higsby as he turned around to the shelves with the battlechips on them.

* * *

An hour later full of browsing and buying battlechips, Lee, Serena and Virgo left the chip shop with a few bags. Lee was the only one who was carrying the bags.

"Did you have to buy this much?" asked Lee as he followed behind Serena and Virgo.

"At least she didn't buy any more, Lee," chuckled Cypher.

"Keep the comments to yourself," replied Lee as he caught up with Serena and Virgo. "Your name was Virgo, right?"

"Yep, and yours was Lee?" asked Virgo as Lee nodded. "What can I do you for?"

"It was interesting to see your navi's skill and that battlechip. Where'd you get those?" asked Lee as Virgo scratched the back of his head.

"Well, to answer your question…" started Virgo before he jumped in front of Lee and Serena. "Just forget it! We're all young and so is the day! We should be living the day's moments till the very end! So let's go have some fun!"

_Okay… this guy just keeps getting weirder and weirder,_ thought Lee as a sweat droplet appeared on the back of his head.

"Whaddya say? Come on!" announced Virgo as Serena backed up a little bit.

"Lee… should we trust this guy?" Serena whispered to Lee while Virgo scratched his chin.

"He did help us but…" started Lee.

"At least let me take you two for lunch!" Virgo interrupted surprising Lee and Serena a little. "'Sides, I know a good place nearby that serves a curry you'll never forget! No matter how hard you try!"

"Well… what's the worst that could happen?" questioned Lee as Virgo grinned widely.

"Excellent! Now let's go! The curry restaurant is only half a block away," said Virgo as he walked briskly away with Lee and Serena reluctantly following.

* * *

"Thank you, your curry will be ready in a few moments," said the waitress as she wrote down the trio's orders. "And if you have any navis, feel free to jack them into the net."

"This place doesn't seem half bad," commented Lee after he logged in Cypher. "So Virgo, Higsby said that you won that Cefiro Claw battle chip in a tournament. What tournament was it?"

"Oh that was a few years ago, I just remember that I barely won the whole thing with Tigre," answered Virgo before he shifted his gaze to Serena who was just being silent. "What a shy little girl you are." The comment got Serena to turn directly towards him. "You afraid I'm going bite?"

"Um… no, it just takes me a while to…" started Serena before the waitress returned with their orders.

"Here you go! One mild beef curry, one regular curry and one super ultra-spicy curry with red peppers," said the waitress as she placed the orders on the table. "Enjoy!"

Meanwhile in the Cyber world, Tigre just groaned while he slapped his forehead. Cypher and Dolph looked confused as Tigre did this little action.

"Tell me that Virgo didn't order the spiciest curry in the restaurant," pleaded Tigre.

"He did order that," replied Dolph before Tigre slumped over.

"Great… the fireworks will start soon," sighed Tigre.

"Why's that?" asked Cypher before he shook his head, deciding he didn't really want to know. "Wait, scratch that… Nice to meet ya, Tigre."

"Same here, Cypher, and I believe I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you," said Tigre as he approached Dolph.

"M-my name is Dolph," replied Dolph as she extended her hand and Tigre gently shook it with his hand.

"Then it's great to meet you two," said Tigre as he let go of Dolph's hand. "It must be nice to have a good friendship, I've never really had much of a chance to get friends."

"Are you shy as well?" asked Dolph as Tigre smiled.

"No, it's just me and Virgo have been traveling around the world," answered Tigre. "Every time we had stopped in one place, neither me nor Virgo were able to get enough time to make friends because we were soon back on the prowl. So as you can see, Virgo is more than willing to make friends."

_Man, that's deep and somewhat saddening_, thought Cypher as a loud yell from the real world got the three navis looking around to see what was happening. "Lee! What's going on out there?"

"Um… Virgo seems to have just learned an important lesson about ordering spicy food," answered Lee as the three navis anime dropped.

"GRAGH! HOT! HOT! HOT!" yelled Virgo with his tongue sticking out with his hands trying to fan the heat off (of course it's ineffective) while running towards the nearest restroom.

"Virgo's certainly interesting to be around with," commented Serena before she continued to enjoy her curry.

"That's just putting it lightly," remarked Lee. "You know, milk is good with something extremely hot," he yelled after the rapidly retreating Virgo.

A few minutes later, Virgo returned to his seat. His mouth still looking like it was searing with pain.

"Well, I'm done with the curry," chuckled Virgo as he pushed the plate of curry to the side. "How are you guys enjoying yours?"

"Thanks, it was really good," said Serena as Virgo smiled.

"Yeah, and thanks for picking up the tab," added Lee as he finished his curry.

"No prob, and I've got one more surprise for you two," said Virgo with a smirk on his face.

* * *

"And here we are!" announced Virgo as he, Lee and Serena entered a huge sports arena dome ready for a soccer game.

"Why'd you take us here?" Lee asked with a confused look on his face.

"Well, I happen to have a job that requires me to move around," answered Virgo as he turned towards Lee and Serena. "I manage an international soccer team, both in the real world and in the Cyberworld."

"Cyberworld soccer? That sounds really weird," commented Lee. "Yet sounds really interesting."

"Yep and this is the arena where the first real soccer game and cyber soccer game are taking place at the same time," answered Virgo. "And I was looking for a couple of people to tell what they think about this arena and about these games."

"You shouldn't have," thanked Serena before Virgo's PET started to ring.

"Virgo you have a phone call from you know who," announced Tigre as Virgo smirked.

"Thanks Tigre, you two can log in your navis to check out the cyber soccer field," said Virgo before he walked off into one of the arena's halls.

"I guess Virgo really wants friends," said Lee as he readied Cypher to log on to the net.

Meanwhile, Virgo was talking to a familiar voice through the PET phone system. A creepy smile appeared on his face.

"No worries Leo, all's going as I planned," said Virgo through the PET. "I realize the power that those navis have…but I've gained the trust of them. I understand, talk to you later, leader."

"Is it finally time?" Tigre asked as Virgo smirked.

"You better believe it… Jack in! Tigre!" announced Virgo as he logged in Tigre in the nearby jack in port.

In the Cyberworld, Cypher and Dolph were enjoying the amazing cyber soccer arena; there was even a cyber soccer ball in the middle of the field that Cypher kept kicking into one of the two cyber goals. Dolph was more intrigued by the amazing cyber banners that were all over the place. Apparently one of the cyber world teams was named the Cyber Dolphins. (_Ironic, eh?_) Suddenly, Tigre appeared behind Cypher who had just finished kicking the cyber soccer ball.

"Hey there, Tigre, did Virgo finish his phone call?" asked Cypher before he took a step to get the cyber soccer ball.

"Oh yeah," replied Tigre as he reeled up his arm then…

POW!

Tigre punched Cypher in the back of the head, sending Cypher flying into one of the cyber soccer nets. The noise of the attack caused Dolph to turn around just in time to see Tigre right in front of her.

"Why--"

Tigre didn't reply… he just jabbed Dolph in the abdomen sending Dolph crashing into the wall that she was back to. This of course didn't go unnoticed by Lee and Serena.

"What the heck!" yelled Lee as laughter filled the sports arena. "Virgo! What do you think you're doing! Sending Tigre to attack Cypher and Dolph…" That's when it hit Lee. "Wait… that means that Saber Tooth wasn't the real threat!"

"That's right! More like a cat with his claws clipped!" announced Virgo, his voice sounding like it was coming from everywhere. "Oh, and don't bother trying to log out your navis. I've managed to set up an anti-logout system that specifically blocks the programming of your navis! Now then Tigre, I think Dolph's had enough; let's deal with Cypher!"

"Why Virgo? I thought you wanted to be friends?" wept Serena as Virgo scoffed out loud.

"Friends are only a crutch for true strength," replied Virgo as Lee readied a few battle chips. "I learned that early in life… and as soon as you learn that you'll be better off!"

"Don't listen to him, Serena!" Lee yelled, as Cypher was ready to rumble in the cyber world. "He's just a coward fighting in the shadows!"  
"Oh really! Then let's put that to the test! Tigre!" roared Virgo.

"You jerk… we treated you as a friend," Cypher growled as Tigre just chuckled.

"I don't need no stinking friends to tie me down," replied Tigre as he began to glow a light green. "Cefiro Claw!"

Then Tigre just disappeared into the cyber air. Cypher looked around then remembered earlier.

"Lee!"

"Right! Elec Sword, battlechip in, download!"

"Take this!" yelled Cypher as he quickly turned around to intercept Tigre's claws with his electrified sword. "You'll have to do better than that!"

"You're right!" laughed Tigre before he jumped backwards. "Virgo! It's time to use that technique that won us the Cefiro Claw!"

"I was hoping you'd say that! Yin Yang Spilt!" announced Virgo as a bright flash engulfed Tigre causing Cypher to cover his eyes.

"This doesn't look good!" growled Lee as the light disappeared.

Standing in front of Cypher was Tigre… only with pure white armor.

"Is this that powerful technique?" Cypher questioned before the White Tigre charged directly towards Cypher with his claws extended fully. Cypher was quickly able to block the claw attack with his Elec Sword. "I'm not impressed!"

"This is only half of the power!" yelled the White Tigre before someone kicked Cypher in the back sending him flying to the ground.

"But soon you will cower!" finished a similar voice as Cypher struggled to get to his feet only to see something that made him worry.

Next to the pure white armored Tigre, stood an exact replica of Tigre only with pitch-black armor. Both were laughing as Cypher stood to his feet.

"I'm seeing double," groaned Cypher as the two Tigres began to run in opposite directions.

"Your eyes do not deceive," chuckled W. Tigre as he and B. Tigre were on opposite sides of Cypher.

"Yet it is hard to believe!" finished B. Tigre as Cypher looked around.

"Cefiro Claws!" both Tigres yelled at the same time before disappearing.

"Lee! Some consent would be helpful!" yelled Cypher before he barely dodged a quick slash from the W. Tigre.

"I've got it! Area Steal! Battle chip in!" announced Lee as Cypher managed to disappear just as both Tigres slashed at the same time.

"Where'd he go?" asked B. Tigre as the two similar navis looked around.

"How should I know?" replied W. Tigre when suddenly multiple energy blasts shot directly onto the tiger navis.

"Spreader!" yelled Cypher from a distance while the two Tigres took the attack. "How ya like me now?"

"We still loathe you!" roared both Tigres at the same time.

"Virgo! I know you're still here!" yelled Lee as Virgo chuckled from his hiding spot. "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't get me wrong… this strictly business," replied the hidden Virgo. "I'm just following the plan."

"Well, then let's throw a wrench in it, shall we?" commented Lee as he pulled a Battle Chip from his pocket. "Let's try Zap Ring!"

"Zap Ring!" yelled Cypher as his right hand transformed into a plug in with electricity surging from it. Cypher then threw his arm sending a ring of electricity towards the recovering Tigres. The Tigres were running in the opposite direction… facing each other till they crashed into each other only have them both receive the Zap ring attack. "Let's finish this, Lee!"

"Right! Elec Blade, battle chip in, download!" announced Lee as Cypher's right hand turned into a thin electrified blade while Cypher quickly ran towards the paralyzed Tigres.

"Elec Blade!" Cypher yelled just as he was about to slash the two Tigres. But at the last second of the slash, the two Tigres managed to jump out of the way, dashing two opposite directions (They got it right this time). "Blast it!"

"What a great idea!" thanked W. Tigre as he and B. Tigre stopped on the left and right sides of Tigre with a yard between them and Cypher.

"Yes! Now watch as we seal your doom!" yelled B. Tigre as black energy started to surge from the black tiger head on his chest, and W. Tigre was concentrating with white energy.

"Tiger Roar!" both Tigres roared at the same time as they shot the white and black energy from the tiger heads.

"Set up to knock them down! Air Shoes, battlechip in, download!" announced Lee before Cypher shot into the air. The two attacks missed… and headed for the opposite Tigres!

"Oh boy!"

"Fer the luv of--"

The two attacks exploded on contact on the (unintentional) targets. As Cypher floated back down to the cyber ground, he could see the heavily damaged Tigres as well as Dolph getting back up.

"And that's how you win!" Lee and Cypher said at the same time while the two Tigres turned into the logout signs.

_Tigre, logging out._

"You okay, Dolph?" Serena asked as Dolph groaned.

"Well, my trust is bruised," answered Dolph as Serena wiped a tear that appeared from her eyes.

"This isn't over!" Virgo yelled from his hiding place while Lee looked around to try to spot Virgo. "It's only the beginning! I've released the anti-logout system as you can tell. You haven't seen the last of me!"

"Virgo!" yelled Lee before he jacked out Cypher while Serena logged out Dolph. _Just who exactly is trying to do us in?_

"Please, Leo! Let me at them again!" pleaded Virgo in a pitch-black room hours after the plan went boom. "I won't fail again!"

"Enough!" yelled Leo causing Virgo to cower backwards. "You'll get a chance… maybe. Right now we need to focus on finding the other two Chaos data."

"And about Lee and Serena?"

"I may have to rely on our aces," Leo answered as he pressed a button on his PET. "Get Aquarius on the line… I've got a job for him."

* * *

_See y'all later!_

Later days!


	7. Things Get Personal

OK, I'm back. Finally I get to do some work on this fic.

_Finally…I had other things to work on as well_

Yea, well you have plenty of other stuff to do besides this one as you so previously stated. I don't have too many other stories running at the moment.

_Yet we still have to get this chapter out of the way_

Of course, we shall. But first I've got great news for everyone!

_What is it!_

I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico!

_That joke is as old as the stones of the earth._

No, that's not the real news. The real news is I've got the sequel to this fic planned out already… and this story isn't even _near_ finished. That's much better than last time when I had no idea what to do for a sequel and had to ask for help. (Though I'm happy I did.)

_When did this happen?_

So why don't we get closer to that new idea for a sequel and get on with this chapter?

_Might as well._

Roll film! WAIT A SECOND! There's some more news! Me and Vyser both changed our names, if you didn't notice already. Mine is now 00zags and Vyser's is now Vyser Dragoon. OK, cheers!

* * *

"You missed dinner." Mac was right in Lee's face as soon as he walked in the door.

"I picked something up on the way home," Lee answered, shutting the door behind him.

"Where you been all day, man? I'm bored here without you."

"Nowhere special," Lee said, shrugging it off.

"Nowhere, doing nothing, eh? That's what you always say these days." Mac put a hand on Lee's shoulder. "C'mon man, I'm your twin brother. I _know_ when something's up with you."

Lee smiled. "Look, it's not that I don't trust you or anything like that. I just don't want you getting involved."

Mac grinned at him. "Ah, so there _is_ something going on."

Lee shrugged again, grinning back. "Maybe…"

Mac lightly punched his brother on the arm. "Alright, keep your secrets. It's probably boring anyway. But could you at least stick around tomorrow? Summer's no fun when you're bored."

Lee began walking upstairs with Mac following him. "Fine, I don't think I have anything planned anyway. But is it OK if one of my friends comes over?"

Mac grinned again. "Sure, the more the merrier."

Lee cued Cypher to send Serena an e-mail explaining the situation and giving directions to his house. Then he turned back to Mac. "C'mon, let's get to bed. I'm bushed."

Mac raised an eyebrow. "But it's only 7'o'clock."

"I said I was tired. You don't have to, but _I'm_ going to bed." Lee grinned back at Mac. "'Sides, you don't want me tired out for tomorrow, do you?"

Mac pretended to think for a moment. "I don't know… Nah, you're right. Get to sleep, lazy bones."

Lee stopped just outside the door to the room they shared. "Hey, there isn't a lazy bone in my body… just tired ones. Good night!" He went inside and shut the door before Mac could make another smart remark back. Lee kicked off his shoes, and pulled off his headband, sash, and PET, laying them on his desk. He plugged the PET in to recharge. Cypher popped up on the screen. "You got a reply from Serena. She'll be here, 9a.m."

Lee lay back on the bottom bunk of the bed he and Mac shared. "Great. I wonder what Mac'll think?"

Cypher smirked. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Yes."

Cypher put on a mock pouting face. "Spoilsport." Then he asked a serious question. (For once.) "So what do you think about this newest development?"

Lee sighed. "Well, I know whoever wants that Chaos data isn't gonna leave me alone, at least not until I pound it into them that they can't get it from me."

"What about Serena?"

"She needs to know about the situation, which one of the reasons why I want her to come over here."

Cypher smirked a little. "And the other reason is you don't want to leave her alone in case those guys try anything."

Lee had to admit to that. "Yea, she's just an amateur battler, so she'd be in real trouble if I wasn't around."

"What about your Net Saver work? She doesn't know yet."

Lee slapped himself on the forehead. "Crud! I forgot about that and didn't go for training today. Now, I'm not gonna be going in tomorrow either…"

Cypher grinned. "I'll send an e-mail to Dr. Hikari before I shut down for the night, how about that?"

"Sure. Good night." Lee rolled over and lay there thinking to himself. So, whoever was after the Chaos data had finally showed their human side… or at least part of it. Virgo was probably only the first of a bunch. But he still didn't know just _whom_ exactly he was dealing with. There had to be more. Both Virgo and the thug navi had threatened about that. But just who they were and when they would show up remained to be seen. Lee suddenly came up with a clue. Both Tigre and that Ratso guy who had apparently been leading the thugs were animal type navis. It wasn't much but it might give him a warning of who not to trust. Lee sighed to himself. He really needed to get to sleep. He heard a small beep from his PET, signaling Cypher had gone into Standby for the night. Lee rolled over again, trying to get comfortable and closed his eyes.

* * *

It seemed only a few minutes later that Mac jumped on him. "WAKE UP!" Mac yelled, hoping to startle him. It worked. Lee was jerked into complete wakefulness, which also made him the tiniest bit cranky for the moment.

"You little--" Lee shoved Mac off of him and fell out of bed in the process. Mac ran out of the room laughing. "Sometimes it's hard to believe that guy's the same age as me," Lee said.

Cypher, who had since come out of Standby, decided to withhold the comment he had been going to say.

Lee checked the clock readout on his PET. It was almost 9. Lee scrambled around the room trying to get everything he needed before he went downstairs. The last thing he needed was for Mac to answer the door when Serena got here.

He was halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang. "I got it!" Lee shouted, bounding the rest of the way down the stairs and dashing to the door. But Mac was quicker.

He opened the door. Sure enough, it was Serena. The look on Mac's face when he glanced back at Lee told Lee what Mac was thinking. _Girlfriend._

Serena looked back and forth between the two boys. Lee hadn't told her that he had a twin brother. Lee shoved Mac none too gently out of the way and made his way to the door. "Hi, come on in," he said, beckoning to Serena. Lee gave Mac a look that said, "Don't say a word."

Serena came in and looked around. "Nice house," she remarked.

Lee shrugged. "Eh, you know. It's home." There was a moment's awkward silence. Lee broke it. "You wanna come up to my room? There's something I need to show you."

Serena nodded and followed Lee up the stairs. Lee tried very hard to ignore loud kissy noises coming from the other room, but he still clenched his fist.

After Lee had shut the door, Serena asked, "What was that all about?"

Lee waved it off. "Just ignore him. We may be twins, but our maturity levels are way different."

Cypher popped up on Lee's PC. "I wouldn't say that was true all of the time."

Lee shook a finger at the screen. "Keep the comments to yourself."

Cypher grinned at him. "I have been. I just couldn't hold back that one."

Lee sighed and gave up trying to argue with Cypher. He instructed Serena to jack Dolph in. His PET was already hooked up from the previous night.

"Alright, you all set now?" Lee asked. Serena nodded. "OK, Cypher. Activate that program Allie gave you."

Cypher nodded and began scanning Dolph. Before long, there was a beep. A readout showing an outline of Dolph's body popped up on the screen. A small target locked on to a glowing blue dot in her left knee. Pretty soon, the Chaos readout came up.

"What _is _all that?" Serena asked.

"It explains what happened to Dolph that one day… and why all those guys were after her." Lee explained about the Chaos data. He pointed to the readout. "See this?" he said, gesturing to a picture of a brown wedge with three water droplets on it arranged in a triangular pattern. "This is the _Aqua_ Chaos data. It says here that it grants instant recovery to whoever uses it, but their attack power is cut in half."

Serena nodded. "That makes sense, considering what happened."

"I never knew I had that in me," Dolph said, amazed. "And another thing… Right before my memory conked out, I remember that one of the thugs hit me… right there," she added, pointing right around her left knee.

"Yea, that may have something to do with how it--" Lee stopped as he heard a loud thump downstairs.

After a moment, Serena whispered, "What was that?"

Lee shook his head and moved slowly to the door. He opened it and peered out. There was nothing immediately around. He began walking downstairs, motioning for Serena to stay in the room. "Mac?" he called. "Are you OK?" There was no response, which didn't bother Lee too much. He figured Mac must be playing some trick, hiding from him.

He reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ma-a-a-c?" he called again. It wasn't until he saw that the front door was open that he realized something was actually wrong. He dashed outside in time to see a black car speed away from down the street. "MAC!"

* * *

Lee was still in shock by the time the Officials arrived. Serena had taken the initiative to tell Cypher to contact them and Lee's parents. Now Lee's parents sat on the couch downstairs, answering the questions the two Officials asked them mechanically. Serena stood off to the side with Lee who leaned against the wall, not speaking, just staring at the floor a few inches in front of him. He hadn't answered any of the questions asked him, whether because he chose not or because he wasn't in a state that he could was undecided. Serena vouched for him, telling the Officials what had gone on just before Lee had gone downstairs.

The Official who seemed to be the leader of the two closed his pad he had been taking notes on. "Well, the most we can do now is wait until demands are made."

"There won't _be_ any demands." Everyone looked back at Lee, startled, as he spoke for the first time since he had witnessed the car driving away. But he still didn't look up.

The Official was taken off guard, but recovered quickly. "How can you be sure?" he asked.

Lee finally looked up and stared at the Official dead in the eye. "Because whoever took Mac either thinks he's me or they took him to get at me."

Mrs. Jamison started to get up. "You can't blame yourself for this," she said.

Lee transferred his gaze to her. "Not even when it's true?" There was silence. "Look, Mom, I know that this is hard to believe, but somebody's after me. Me and her," he added, gesturing to Serena.

The Official was instantly alert. "Who?" he demanded. "We'll get them first."

"I don't know; that's the problem. If the Officials get involved before then, we might never find out." Lee began walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" his mom asked urgently.

Lee stopped just outside the open door. "To find Mac," he answered simply. Then he walked out.

Lee's dad began to get up. His wife put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her questioningly. "You're not going to stop him?"

She shook her head. "Lee's nearly grown-up now. He needs to be able to take care of himself. Besides…" She gave a half-smile. "I don't think he'd let you stop him anyway."

Serena looked around the room for a moment, and then slipped out the door. She spotted Lee walking up the street in the direction the car had taken. She quickly jogged up to catch up with him. When she pulled up along side him, there was a moment's silence. Then Lee spoke. "They didn't send you to bring me back, did they?"

Serena shook her head. "No, I'm coming with you."

Lee didn't look toward her. "I'm sorry, but you can't. It's too dangerous."

Serena walked in front of him and stopped. "Don't give me that," she started, speaking in a stronger tone than Lee had ever heard her speak in. "It's as much my problem as it is yours. They want you for the same reason they want me. And did you ever think that this might a plot to get you to leave me alone. It's a regular 'Divide and Conquer.' So, no way, I'm not staying behind by myself. And anyway…" Serena switched back to her normal quieter voice. "…you're my friend and friends stick together, no matter what."

Lee stared at her. There was the same determination in her eyes as there had been in his a few minutes ago. He gave in. "Alright, fine, you convinced me… friend."

Serena smiled at him and he smiled back. Cypher piped up from the PET. "So are we just gonna stand around all day smiling? C'mon, let's get a move on!"

Lee suddenly felt very excited and determined at the same time. He pumped a fist in the air. "Yea, let's go!"

* * *

Ta-da! So the quest begins… but who knows how long it's going to take. Review now people. Later days! 


	8. Aquarius

You know, I really don't have all that much to say.

…

And apparently neither do you. Let's get on with it.

* * *

Lee and Serena had spent the last half hour continuing in the direction Lee thought the car had taken. They continually asked people on the street if they had seen it go by, but not many had been out at that time.

"This isn't going so well," Serena said, as they sat down to rest on the curb.

"No information, no leads… We can't just stop trying," Lee said, staring across the street. "Any possible hideouts around here, Cypher?"

"Already ran a search on it. Way too many possible places to check them all out and some are pretty nasty. Besides, we don't know how far away they stopped. Hate to say it, Lee, but we're at a dead stop."

Lee stood up. "We can't give up. We'll just keep searching until we find him or we get some good info."

Lee's PET suddenly beeped. "Incoming call," Cypher reported. "It's Chaud."

Lee nodded to him. "Bring it up." Chaud's face appeared on the screen. "What is it?" Lee asked.

"Lee, this may just be a mistake but a couple of Officials just came in here and filed a report on the kidnapping of a Michael Jamison. Any relation?"

"Yea," Lee said slowly. "He's my twin brother."

"Oh…" Chaud was silent.

"Hey, look it's OK. I'm already on it," Lee added.

Chaud raised an eyebrow. "_You're_ looking for the kidnapper? Shouldn't you leave it to the Officials?"

"I'm a Net Saver, remember? And besides, it's personal."

Chaud sighed. "Fine then, I won't try to talk you out of it. But shouldn't you at least have some backup? What happens if they get you too?"

Lee was itching to get back on the move. "Chaud, if you don't have anything in the way of information for me, then I'd appreciate this conversation ending very soon."

"Look, all I'm saying is: Are you sure you can handle it on your own?"

Lee got a very serious look in his eyes. "Chaud, if someone you cared about was taken, would you let anything get in the way of you trying to get them back?"

Chaud stared a moment. "I see," he finally replied. "Good luck then."

"Transmission ended," Cypher reported.

Lee let out a huge breath. "Finally. C'mon let's get going again."

Serena had been listening to the entire conversation with interest. It only confirmed what she had already assumed. Lee wouldn't stop at anything to get his brother back. But it also revealed something else. "What's a Net Saver?" she asked.

Lee froze. He had momentarily forgotten she was there and let it slip. He tried to think of what to do, but there weren't many options. He remembered that Lan had told Maylu when she had found out, so he decided to spill. He took a deep breath before going into it. "The Net Savers are a special elite branch of the Net Police," he started out.

Serena's eyes widened. "You mean you're like an Official?"

Lee shrugged. "Sort of. But you can't tell anyone, got it? My parents don't know, not even Mac knows."

Serena nodded. "I won't tell anyone."

Lee smiled at her. "I know you won't. Now let's get going again."

* * *

After another hour, they had still found nothing. By now, they were starting to approach the outskirts of the city. Serena was getting nervous. "Maybe we should stop for today? It's getting kind of dark."

Lee kept walking. "For every moment we stop, Mac could be getting farther away."

Cypher tried reasoning with him. "For every moment you don't stop, you get more and more tired. C'mon Lee, if you keep going like this you'll be too tired to do anything when we actually find him… and the guy who took him." There was a small beep from Lee's PET. Cypher turned to check it out as Lee responded.

"Fine, you guys win. We'll stop somewhere for the night."

"Actually…" Cypher started. "We might want to go _a little_ further."

"Why the sudden change in your tune?" Lee asked, stopping.

"Because you just got an e-mail from an anonymous sender. Check it out." Serena peeked over Lee's shoulder as Cypher brought the file up on screen. It read:

_"To the Chaos navi's Op: _

_I have your brother. If you want to find him, come to the address attached. There we will settle the_ _conflict."_

Cypher brought up a map. "That address isn't far. It's an old abandoned house on the edge of the woods outside town. Local rumor says it's haunted." Cypher grinned. "You up for it?"

Lee glanced at the map. "Do you have to ask?" He began to walk off in the direction, but Serena stopped him. "What?"

"Are you sure about this?" she said nervously. "I mean, the house is haunted."

"No, there's a _rumor_ that it's haunted," Lee corrected. "There's a difference. Now come on, or I'm leaving you right here!" With that, he began to walk off.

Serena stood there for a moment. "Well, Dolph?"

"I'm game if you are."

"Alright then. I just hope I don't regret it. Hey Lee, wait up!"

* * *

In about ten minutes or so they arrived at the bottom of the hill where the house stood. "Why do these kind of places always have to be at the top of a really big hill?" Lee groaned. It was a pretty run down old place. The paint had long since been stripped off. The shutters were hanging at odd angles alongside broken windows. It had an old rotting front porch. There was one light shining through one of the windows on the bottom floor.

Lee walked up the hill with Serena close behind him looking around nervously. They came to the front porch. Lee tested one of the steps before going up all of them, which were surprisingly sturdy besides their appearance.

Serena made one last ditch effort to try and get Lee to not go in. "It might be a trap," she warned. "Would you want them to get both of us?"

"If it's a trap, I'll beat it," Lee said resolutely. He raised his hand and quietly shoved the door open. It creaked a little bit, but for the most part opened silently. Inside it was pitch black. Lee took a deep breath and strode inside. Serena followed him, trying to stay as close as possible.

"I can't see a thing," Lee whispered.

"Neither can I," Serena whispered back.

"Let me help you with that," a voice called. Instantly the room was lit up with flashing lights and music came blaring from everywhere. Lee jumped a little. Serena jumped a lot.

Lee stared around the room. It was not broken down at all. The floor was tiled. Fairly new furniture stood against the walls. The flashing lights came from a disco ball that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room. In the corner was a sort of drinks bar. Behind it stood the guy who had spoken to them. He had on a white and black disco suit with white pants and platform shoes. He had a necklace with the male symbol on the end of it and a pin with a disco ball design on it. Also, he had a huge black afro.

Lee stuck his finger in his ear. "Could you turn it down?" he shouted.

The guy turned a knob in the side of the bar. The music receded to a reasonable level. "Howdy," he said. "What can I get for ya?"

Lee moved over to the bar. "Uh… Nothing right now. Hey listen, I got an e-mail that said to come to this place. You seen anybody suspicious around?"

"Suspicious? Nah, not me." The guy began shaking up a drink. Pretty soon, he got into the groove of the music and began shaking in rhythm with it while doing the moonwalk.

Lee watched him. _OK…_

"Who are you anyway? And what're you doing in this old dump… or at least I thought it was a dump," Lee added, looking around the place again.

"People mostly call me Aquarius," he said, getting out three glasses. "And as for this place, I like having my own little crib to jam in. No neighbors, nobody bothering me… It's nice, man, nice…" He poured out the drink. "On the house. My own specialty Groove Juice." Aquarius gulped his right down. "Ah…" he said smacking his lips. "Nothing like it to get your feet movin'."

Serena didn't touch her glass. She just stared at the oddly colored reddish-orange opaque liquid in it. Lee took his glass but didn't drink anything. This guy was getting on his nerves. So far, the e-mail had just turned out to be another dead end. "Look, it's been real nice and all, but we really need to be going now. Thanks." Lee left his glass on the counter and walked to the door, but when he tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. "Hey, what's the--" He stopped when he saw Aquarius grinning behind the bar. Serena moved away from him rather quickly.

Lee stormed back up to the bar. "Alright, where's my brother!"

Aquarius continued grinning. "Here. But if you want to get him, you'll have to beat my challenge first."

"Figures," Lee said. "Let's get this over with. What's your challenge?"

"Simple. Defeat my navi and deactivate the locking system on the front door and the door to the room that holds your brother."

"Fine, I accept. Jack in! Cypher, power up!"

Cypher appeared in the Cyberworld, only to find himself surrounded by viruses. "Whoa!"

Aquarius was grinning yet again. "But of course, you have to _get_ to my navi first. Begin!"

Cypher dodged the initial charge of the viruses. "Lee, they look like modified Moloko viruses… just like that Saber Tooth guy had those modified Spikey ones!" (A/N: If any of you _haven't_ played BN4, Molokos are like little sheep with horns that charge at you.)

"OK, here's something with multiple hits. Vulcan, battlechip in, download!"

Cypher stood his ground as the Molokos charged again. He brought up the Vulcan and began blasting away. The Vulcan's rapid fire took out the Molokos' wool armor and the Molokos themselves. Before long, there was a clear path. "OK, I'm moving on," Cypher reported.

"Good job." Lee turned to Aquarius. "That wasn't so tough."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Aquarius said with an evil glint in his eye.

Cypher continued along, heading towards a large tower-like structure. He soon spotted another navi guarding it. "Lee, I've found his navi."

The navi had a gray suit with a black helmet that had ram's horns on it. White fleecy armor, like that of the Molokos, was on his chest and shins; black armor lined his arms. Two big stereo-like parts were placed on his shoulders. His symbol, the silver disco ball, was placed in the middle of his chest.

"Meet Beat," Aquarius said. Then something went off in his head. "Meet… Beat… I could make a song about that! It could be our theme song!" He began singing out random rhyming words while dancing to it. "Meet! Beat! Defeat! Feet! Sweet!" Then he added in actual phrases. _"Yea, MEET my navi, BEAT, we will DE-FEAT you under our FEET and it will be SWEET…"_ And so it continued.

Beat got into the rhythm of it and began dancing as well only he threw in a couple of humanly impossible moves. "Yea man, sing it!"

Cypher, Lee and Serena watched the whole thing dumbfounded. "This guy is crazy…" Lee muttered. "Cypher, attack!"

"Shock Blaster!" Cypher began firing at the still dancing Beat. Surprisingly, he dodged every single blast without breaking his rhythm. "How the heck did he do that!" Cypher said.

Aquarius stopped singing, but continued dancing while explaining. "Beat has a special ability called Mystic Moves. If he's dancing, he can dodge almost anything. Break it down, Beat. Give us some music!"

"Alright, Disco Groove!" Beat's stereo parts began pumping out disco music.

Cypher rolled his eyes. "Great… More bad music."

"If you think it's bad, then why are you dancing to it?" Serena pointed out.

"Huh?" Cypher stared down. Sure enough, his legs were moving to the beat. "I… I can't stop!"

"Attack, Beat," Aquarius commanded, fading into a moonwalk.

"Sound Blaster!" Beat's stereo continued to pump out disco music but on a particularly loud note, sonic waves fired from them.

"I can't dodge it!" Cypher shouted over the noise. "My legs won't listen to me!" He was blasted across the floor by the ongoing sonic waves. After he recovered, he got up… still dancing. "This could be a problem, Lee."

"I know, I know! I'm working on it," Lee said.

"Too bad you can't just drown out the music," Serena suggested.

"That's it!" Lee suddenly shouted. "We fight music with music!"

"Better hurry," Beat said. "Sound Blaster!" Another sonic wave shot toward Cypher.

"Discord, battlechip in, download!" A blue trumpet looking virus appeared next to Cypher and began blaring out the worst music ever heard.

"Ahhh! What is that racket!" Beat cried, clapping his hands to his ears… or where his ears would be. As he did, the disco music stopped.

Cypher dodged out of the way of the sonic wave at the last second. He stood there grinning. "It may be just a racket to you, but it's music to my ears."

"Blaster, battlechip in, download!"

Cypher began firing in Beat's direction, but he just went on dancing and dodged it. "Dang, he's still dodging my attacks!"

"This'll fix that," Lee said, selecting another chip. "Ice Ball, battlechip in, download!"

Cypher hurled the Ice Ball straight at Beat, but as usual he just dodged. However, when it hit the ground, ice spread out from the impact point. Aquarius stopped his dancing. "What?"

Beat slipped up and fell flat on his butt. He struggled to get back up, but just slipped and fell again.

"Ha!" Lee said. "No dance, no dodge! Let's finish this! Rock Cube, battlechips in, double download!" Two Rock Cubes materialized and landed on either side of Beat on the ice. "And now Thunderbolt, battlechip in, download!"

"Thunderbolt!" Cypher yelled as a massive surge of electricity shot from him up into the air. It came back down, striking the two Rock Cubes and the area around them… including Beat.

"YAAAAHHHHH!" Needless to say, Beat was electrocuted massively.

Beat, logging out.

"I beat Beat!" Cypher said, giving thumbs-up and grinning.

Lee turned to Aquarius, but he was gone. He had slipped out through a secret door behind the bar. "Cypher, deactivate the locking system!"

"Right." Cypher dashed over to it and pressed a few keys. "It's done."

The front door and another door across the room swung open. Lee dashed for the latter. "Mac!" Inside was a tall chair with the back facing Lee. Rope ran around the back of it and a small bit of hair showed over the top. Lee ran over to it… and stopped. There sitting in the chair was a flour sack, a bowling ball, and the end of a mop. Attached to the rope was a note. "Suckers!" was all it said.

* * *

Uh-oh… Looks like Lee's been tricked. But I bet the bad guys will come to regret that. Review please! 


	9. Taurus

Well, isn't this interesting? We **both** get to write this chapter.

_Yeah! Double the judgement from the reviewers_

Yes, but I get to say something first.

_Well aren't you just so special?_

Um, let's just get to the chapter…

* * *

The next morning Lee strode into the Net Police Headquarters, followed, as always, by Serena. Ever since the previous night's incident he had become somewhat more protective of her. Now she looked around in amazement. "Wow! So this is the Net Police Headquarters? It's huge!"

Lee smiled a bit. "You get used to it after a few times." He walked up to the front desk and flashed his Net Saver badge program. "I need to see Chief Keifer."

The attendant nodded. "Go on up, I'll tell him your on the way."

Lee acknowledged with a nod. He turned to Serena. "I need you to stay here while I go. I'm not sure how the Chief would take to unauthorized personnel wandering around."

Serena nodded. "I'll be OK. This is the Police HQ, after all."

"Great. See you in a few." Lee moved to the elevators and punched the call button on one of them.

"You sure about this?" Cypher asked.

"Yup." Lee said, as the elevator doors opened. "If I'm gonna be able to commit to this full time, I can't have any distractions. Even if they're for a good cause."

Once on the Chief's floor, Lee walked out of the elevator and down to Chief Keifer's office. He tapped on the door.

"Come in," said the Chief from inside.

Lee took a deep breath, and then opened the door and walked in.

"Ah, Agent Lee," Keifer began. "I was surprised to get your call. But you said you had something urgent to talk to me about."

"Yes sir, I do. I'd like to be temporarily relieved of duty. Indefinitely."

The Chief was silent for a moment as a look of surprise crossed his face. "And why, may I ask?"

"Personal matters," Lee replied simply.

"Oh, that." Chief Keifer walked around his desk to stand next to Lee. "Chaud informed me of the situation with your brother. He said he was worried you might get into trouble if you went on your own."

"Sir," Lee interrupted. "I'd like you to know that I have the highest respect for this organization and am deeply honored to be a part of it, but…" Lee's face grew very serious. "If you say 'No', I'll be compelled to go AWOL." Lee paused a moment before continuing. "So I'd much rather have your approval," he said softly.

Chief Keifer watched him for a moment, noting the pure determination in his eyes. "Chaud also said that you'd probably go do it anyway even if we tried to stop you," he said. "So my answer is yes. Temporary relief granted."

Lee's face lit up. "Thank you, sir." He went to go for the door.

"Lee." Lee stopped and turned back. "Remember, you're not alone here. You can call us if you need anything."

"Thanks, but I don't think I will." Lee walked out.

"That went well," Cypher said.

"Easier than expected, I guess," Lee replied, getting back in the elevator.

"Why didn't you accept his help?"

"I'm not a Net Saver for right now, remember? It would be unfair to ask for help from an organization that I'm not a part of and that has more important things to do. This is just something I have to do by myself."

"By yourself, huh?" Cypher grinned. "So… I can just sit back and relax now?"

"Not a chance."

By now, they had returned to the ground floor. Serena hurried over to meet them. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"Well enough," Lee responded. He didn't want to give her the specifics. "So now let's get to work. What do we know?" He moved to sit down on a bench just outside the building. "Or in other words, how can we spot one of these guys before they get us? I spotted one plausible thing… all their navis seemed to be themed around animals."

Serena piped up. "I think I know another one, but since we've only met two, it's hard to tell. Both of their names were zodiac signs."

Lee thought for a moment. "That sounds…"

"Exactly right," Cypher said, cutting in. "The Zodiac theme ties together the two elements we've come up with. Look, I've got a list." Cypher gestured to a window that popped up beside him. "Twelve zodiac signs and twelve zodiac animals, including the tiger and the ram."

"And the rat," Dolph added. "Can't forget that first guy we saw."

"So…" Serena started, thinking. "Each of the Ops must have the name of a zodiac sign and each of the navis is based on a zodiac animal."

"Cypher, connect the pairs of the ones we've seen so far," Lee commanded.

Cypher nodded and drew a line from "Virgo" to "Tiger" and from "Aquarius" to "Ram."

"We don't know who the Rat guy's Op is, so we can't place him yet. But it's a good start. Now we know who to be careful around."

Serena and Dolph nodded. Cypher was a little hesitant. Something about the fact that "Horse" was on the list bothered him…

* * *

Meanwhile, in a darkened room with two spotlights shinning over Virgo and Aquarius kneeling in front of a very angry Leo.

"Idiots!"

"Relax Chief! We still have an ace up our sleeve," Aquarius responded in defense.

"Yeah well you still managed to mess that part up," Virgo chuckled. "You got the wrong person to begin with."

"At least my navi didn't cause his own downfall!"

Through their constant arguing, Virgo and Aquarius didn't notice that Leo was starting to have a blood appear on his forehead. "ENOUGH!"

Virgo and Aquarius just straightened their backs turning their heads back towards Leo. "Sorry leader Leo."

"Now then…we've tried your approaches, it's time for someone with a little more of a…how to put this? Ah yes, a direct approach."

Virgo and Aquarius's eyes opened as a third light appeared revealing a very muscular figure chuckling while his face was hidden. Virgo growled as he shifted his gazed back to Leo. "You can't be serious!"

Leo just smirked snapping his fingers at the same time. "Oh, but I am."

"Ready boss!" The muscular figure announced as he saluted. "Just tell me what me need to do!"

"Excellent Taurus…your mission is in the folder outside the room." Leo replied as muscular figure named Taurus saluted once more.

"Right…now what was I supposed to do once more?" Taurus asked as everyone else in the room sighed.

Aquarius raised his hand before he stood up. "Sir, maybe one of us should accompany Taurus…remember the last time he went alone on a mission?"

Taurus slammed his large foot into the ground causing a little tremor through out the room. "LOOK HERE DISCO DUD! First off I've got seniority here, and second that old man had it coming to him. Walking around with his cane acting like he owned the place."

"Enough! Aquarius I realize the past but with yours, Virgo's and Capricorn's failures…Taurus can't possibly screw this up worse than you two! This meeting is adjourned."

Lee leaned up against the wall near the mall where Serena was next to him, according to his PET the time was about 12:35.

Serena turned towards Lee. "So, what now?"

Lee just sighed out loud before he looked upwards. "We need to find anything that connects to those Zodiac guys. But I can't really think of any way to find them."

Serena kicked up a little dust before she smiled. "How about the forum boards?"

"The forum boards? You mean the Net Boards?" Lee asked as Serena nodded. "That's a good idea. You get all that Cypher?"

"Yep, just waiting for you jack me in," Cypher replied while Lee and Serena located the nearby jack in port.

_Although…I'm more concerned about the horse…could it be her?_

"Jack in! Cypher, power up!"

"Jack in! Dolph, power up!"

Navis of many different shapes and sizes were at the local Net Board's site, many of them posting and reviewing previous messages. One certain navi was very unusual, draped over his entire body was a black cloak that even covered his face. The only indications of what he actually looked like were his broad shoulders, muscular body and two yellow horns sprouting from his head poking out of the cloak. On the board he was on, the rumor board, the words Zodiac Navis was on the title while the info his netop was inputting onto the board.

"This gonna help me get stronger?" The cloaked Navi asked his netop.

"Torro…the opponents we'll face will be…uh…um, enough to get you to be the best!" The netop stuttered as the cloaked Navi Torro continued to input the data. "Now then…uh…what did we need to do now?"

The cloaked navi just shrugged as he finished the data input. "You're the Netop Taurus."

Taurus just sighed as Cypher and Dolph just appeared into net boardroom. Torro turned his cloaked head and noticed the two navis. "Sir…what'd the opponents look like?"

"Well according ta the report, one was an electric navi with a symbol of thunder bolts and the other was a dolphin theme navi."

"They're here…can I attack them?"

"No…I'm logging you out and transferring you to the red zone that Leo said to us," and with that Torro disappeared into the Log out Symbol.

"Okay, now we have to post the topic about the Zodiac navis," Cypher stated as Dolph walked over to one of the boards. "Hopefully someone will know something."

As she scanned one of the boards, Dolph's eyes widened as she read one of the board titles. "Hey Cypher! The topic's already here!"

"Huh?" Cypher asked as he walked over to the board and gazed at the title. "Zodiac Navis…a little too easy. What do you think Lee?"

Lee thought for a second. "Let's see what it has to say."

"Right."

-Zodiac Navis-

L: I've been noticing a recent increase of animal navis appearing on the net. Mostly related to the animals on the Chinese Zodiac. Can anyone tell me where I can locate those navis?

T: Why?

L: Because I've heard that they've been giving a bad rep to animal navis, so I need to teach them a lesson cause I'm an animal theme navi.

T: Very well…I might regret this but I've heard about one of them hanging out at an address known as the Red Zone. It's actually located in the Net City mall arcade net, but the link is hard to find. Just take the red path in the system and you'll be there.

L: Thanks T!

T: Careful, I hear that one navi that hangs out there most of the time is pretty strong. You might get deleted.

Cypher just rubbed his chin as he noticed that the only thing about the names were only one letter. "Well Lee? What should we do?"

"This is the only lead we got," Lee muttered to himself as Serena looked at him. "This smells like a very bad trap."

"Maybe we should check this out," Serena suggested as Lee continued to think.

_I'd rather not put Serena in danger…_ Lee's eyes closed as his mind contemplated with the various thoughts that were surging into his head. _This is such an obvious trap…wait, if the guy who thought of this trap is as bright as I think he is then I might be able to…_

A loud beep signified Lee that Cypher was trying to say something to him. "What's the next move Lee?"

"Log out Cypher, we're going to that Red Zone place."

Five minutes passed while Lee and Serena entered the strangely huge mall arcade. There were multiple net arenas that had Netops clashing it out to win, while the older classical games were casually being played or collecting dust. Lee had been in his arcade a few times and knew where the jack-in ports were to the Arcade net. As Lee logged Cypher into the net, he stopped Serena from doing so.

"Serena stop," Lee stated as Serena stumbled with Dolph's PET. "This is most likely a trap. I'd rather have it so you and Dolph won't get involved."

"But…Lee you can't really do that alone can you?" Serena asked as Lee smiled.

"Hey, I've faced some very powerful opponents and I think that I can handle a guy whose stupid enough to leave such an obvious trap," Lee replied as Serena looked at Dolph's PET. "Look…I just don't what to put Dolph into any immediate danger."

"I understand, just be careful with Cypher," Serena said as Lee smiled once more.

"No worries," Lee commented.

Inside the net, there were gaming programs all about regulating the games and coin machines. Cypher was sticking out like a sore thumb as he looked at the very red path that led to a special link. "Lee, I think I found the place. I'm heading in."

"Keep a sharp look out Cypher…" Lee, warned as Cypher entered the link. "Even though the guy who set up this stupid little trap, we still can't count out the fact that he's with that zodiac group."

Cypher emerged from the link to enter the Red Zone. "I got'cha." As Cypher looked around the completely red area, the cloaked Torro emerged from the link.

"FOOL!" Taurus yelled as he charged with a powerful flame pushing him towards Cypher.

Cypher turned at the last second to see the cloaked Taurus and managed to jump out of the way at the last second. Torro just skidded on the ground the flame still surging from his cloak; Cypher just smirked as Taurus roared into the air.

"Me can't believe that you fell for this!" Torro laughed, as Cypher's right hand became a blaster. "You stupid!"

"Hold it…you are part of the Zodiac guys right?" Cypher asked as Torro cocked his head.

"Yeah, and I guess I'll let you have one more free question," Taurus said as he grasped the cloak that covered his body then ripped it off. "Before I crush you into a pulp!"

Torro's black armor covered his muscular body while his helmet was in the shape of a bullhead with two yellow bullhorns sticking from his helmet. His huge shoulder pads had his symbol on them, two yellow bull horns in front of a red background, and a bull tail fluttered behind him. The armor had red parts on his body, a golden nose ring added some detail to his harsh face, and on his back is a rocket booster. "So? What's your final question?"

"Where's Mac and Surgeman?" Lee asked as a screen with his face appeared next to Cypher.

"Who? I don't know what you're talking about," Torro replied with an evil smirk.

Cypher sighed then slapped his forehead. "So the grunt isn't trusted?"

"GRUNT! I'll rip that Chaos Data from your de-rezzing body!" Torro roared as the rocket booster on his back began to flare up. "BULL CHARGE!"

"Torro! Torro!" Cypher mocked as Torro charged towards him.

Just as Torro was about to crash into Cypher, Cypher skidded to the side dodging the attack by barely an inch and fired a volley of electric blasts towards Torro. Torro just stomped on the ground, and with a spin took the full attack by the red parts of his armor. Even though he took damage, Torro seemed to be grinning. With a loud roar, his muscles began to bugle out even larger than they were before.

"That's not good," Cypher commented as Torro slammed his fist into the cyber ground sending a powerful shock wave towards Cypher who barely managed to dodge. "That was close."

"You mess with the bull…" Torro growled as his horns began to grow.

Lee slid his next battle chip into the PET and downloaded it to Cypher. "If this guy's all about brawn, let's take him out with brains!"

Torro's horns instantly were engulfed with fire and Torro charged directly towards Cypher with his legs running as fast as they could. "YOU GET THE VULCAN HORNS!"

Cypher just jumped out of the way as Torro was about to charge into him, however at the last second, Torro spun toward Cypher and his rocket booster flared up causing him to slam his horns directly into Cypher.

"Cypher!" Serena yelled as Torro slammed Cypher into ground then slammed his foot into Cypher.

Torro's horns returned to normal as he began to laugh. "HA! You not so tough, me don't know how me comrades lost to you."

Before Torro could continue with his horrible grammar, Cypher's body quickly disappeared in smoke and underneath Torro's foot was a small dummy version of Cypher. "What be this?"

"It's called Dummy, you dummy!" Lee announced as Torro looked around trying to find out where his opponent was. "And guess what? There's a part two to this little chip!"

Torro wasn't even listening; he just stomped around looking for his opponent. "COWARD! FACE ME LIKE A REAL NAVI!"

Suddenly, from a high up point in the Red Zone, three ninja stars flew from above and slammed themselves directly into Torro's chest area. As Torro knelt down due to the pain he just received, Cypher gently landed on the ground in front of him.

"Power is just an empty threat without a strategy to control it," Cypher stated as a confused look appeared on Torro's face. "To put it in simple terms, the lights are on in your head, but no one's home!"

"You no get it do you?" Torro asked as he pulled the three ninja stars from his chest and stood up. "With each and every attack I take in…I get stronger! In simple terms, the more damage you deal, the more pain you'll feel!"

With a loud roar, Torro's entire body began to bulge with powerful muscles. Then in a quick one motion, both of Torro's shoulder pads flew off and became two powerful chain maces. Holding each one in both of his hands, Torro smirked as Cypher readied himself.

Slowly but surely, Torro began to spin with the twin maces beginning to lift off the ground. "Now prepare yourself for my most devastating attack! Mace Slammer!"

"Lee! Some back up would be nice right about now!" Cypher announced as Torro spun even faster and looked like a huge black and red tornado.

Just as the speed of Torro was enough, he began to charge for Cypher for another attack. Cypher knew he couldn't dodge the attack, and just as Torro was about to slam the maces into Cypher, an extremely powerful barrier appeared around him blocking the attack and sending the dual maces into the air and sent Torro to the ground.

Lee just sighed loudly while wiping some sweat from his brow. "Good thing that Life Aura kicked in at the last second."

"Yeah! Way to scare me like that!" Cypher yelled as Torro jumped back onto his feet.

Torro's muscles began to grow once more as his eyes began to turn red. "I can't lose to a stick like navi like yourself! I'm the strongest! I'm the best! I won't allow this! Bull Charge!"

The rocket boosters on Torro's flared up once more and charged directly towards Cypher. "I have to win!"

"Elec Blade! Battle chip in and download!" Lee announced, as Cypher's right hand became a green sword.

Cypher charged towards the rampaging Torro his sword ready to strike. "Elec Blade!"

As soon as the two were about to strike, time seemed to stand still. Then without cause, Torro just crashed to the ground, his eyes dazed and resembled like the small-confused swirls.

Lee just scratched his head as the Log Out symbol was replacing Torro. "What just happened?"

Cypher watched as Torro began to log out and noticed the cause of it. He reported it while trying not to laugh. "Lee…his maces just landed on his head. They must've had some force on him."

"Are these guys going to make this easier for us every time?" Lee joked as Serena smiled. "Log out Cypher."

"I guess we can cross out the Bull on our list," Serena said as Lee smiled back.

"Yeah," Lee replied as he looked at his PET. _However…I feel as though we haven't seen the last of them. And as long as they have Mac…I don't care if they send every species of animal navi against us, we will find him.

* * *

_

_And there you go!_

And here we go! Bye-bye! Oh wait, one minor note here. It seems that Vyser has been overwhelmed by the menace known as 'school.' So from here on out, excluding the next chapter, I will be writing this fic solo. T-T We'll miss you Vyser. …Enough tears already, REVIEW! Let's see if we've got any faithful readers from the long posting gap.


	10. Another One!

This chapter posted in loving memory of its author, Vyser Dragoon, who earlier this month succumbed to the horrible menace known as 'school.' Work in peace.  
…XD Yea, the intro has been edited. Vyser's comments remain in the sign off though. Double postage to make up for the long gap. . Sorry! Now get to reading already!

* * *

"I told you he'd fail." Aquarius snickered as Leo slapped his forehead. 

Leo just glared at his three lackeys. Virgo, Aquarius and Taurus were kneeling in front to him. "Don't give me that…at least we're getting battle data on what our targets are capable of."

"Uh, sir, shouldn't we try for the other elements of Chaos data?" Virgo asked as Leo snickered.

Snapping his fingers, two more lights appeared over two other figures next to Leo's desk. One of the figures was a huge daunting man, while the other was a skinny creepy guy. "Funny you should mention that, because Agent Pisces has started the Wood navi tournament. So he'll be managing it as soon as it begins."

The huge man slammed his huge fist into his chest. "You need not worry sir…we'll get that Wood Chaos! I swear on it!"

Leo just smirked as he turned towards the skinny creepy guy. "Excellent and I've decided that the kids gloves are off, so we're sending Agent Scorpio to track the Elec and Aqua  
Chaos data Netops. Remember Scorpio…you are not to terminate until you receive the orders to do so."

Kneeling before his leader, the assassin Scorpio snickered. "Yessssss sssssssir, I will not disssssssapoint you."

"As for you three…" Leo glared daggers at his three failures of lackeys. "Be grateful that you're not going to be deleted…yet. Your orders are to compile all of the data that you've gotten facing against the Elec Chaos Navi. He seems to be the more serious threat of the two. However…Aquarius, you are to make sure that our guest is comfortable."

"Yes sir!" All five of the lackeys saluted before the spotlights above them snapped off.

"The things I do for employees…"

* * *

_Ding! Dong!_

"I'm coming…I'm coming!" Lee shouted as he ran from the stairs towards the front door. "It's only 7 in the morning."

As soon as Lee opened the door, Serena walked into the house with a green flyer in her hand. Lee just stepped to the side rubbing some of the sleep out of his eyes. "Sure…just walk on in..."

"Um, I'm sorry, but I found something that might help," Serena stated as she held up the flyer.

The flyer was decorated with green paint and multiple leaf emblems on it. The main picture had a snake like navi facing off against a wooden navi. Over the navis were the words 'Forest Net Battle Tournament' written in forest green paint. Underneath the navis was a small box that had writing on it. "**_For Wood Type Navis only."_**

Lee's eyes had a look of intrigue in them as he studied the flyer. It looked like it was from the same people who sponsored the Elec navis only tournament. _No doubt about it…it's the same thing. This has to be a connection._

"Since I figured that there was Elec and Aqua Chaos that there would be Wood Chaos and maybe the owner of that navi would show up to that," Serena explained as Lee looked up from the flyer.

"Makes sense…" Lee stated handing back the flyer. "And I don't think that it's a coincidence that me and Cypher were in an all Elec navi tournament."

"Should we go there?" Serena asked as Lee rubbed his chin.

Considering the facts of what has happened in the past and what had happened at the Elec Navi Tournament, Lee was faced with a grueling choice. _More than likely we might be able to find out about who's making these tournaments…probably that Zodiac group. However, this could turn out badly or be a trap. On the other hand, we might be able to find that Wood Chaos guy._

"What now Lee?" Serena asked.

Lee just smiled. "It can't hurt…I'll get into my regular clothes."

"I'll wait for you outside." Serena stated before she walked out of the house.

_Sssssssssssssso, that isssssssss the owner of Aqua Chaosssssssss._ Scorpio poked his head from the house he hid behind to see Serena standing outside Lee's house. _Who would've thought that I'd find them here…sssssssssssso easssssssssssily. I'm not complaining._

Lee exited his home, fully equipped for the day. "So where exactly is that Wood tournament being held?"

"I think it would be obvious…a place with lots of trees, the park," Serena giggled as she walked ahead of Lee gesturing him to follow her.

"Seems to me that this is more like a date or something," Cypher snickered as Lee slapped his forehead.

"Another comment like that and I'll keep your PET off," Lee sighed following Serena.

Neither of the two noticed the weird man with a gray Mohawk following them at a distance...

* * *

"This is the Net Battle Arena?" Lee asked in disbelief at the sight of the net battle tournament. There were multiple stands connected to the several trees, in the middle of the trees was a green net battle system that was set up on what appeared to be a huge stump. People lined the stands and there was a single person in line in front of a green desk. 

"Cool! Thanks y'all!" The person in front of the desk laughed turning around. He was defiantly a weird looking character to be sure. His short emerald hair really exposed the muscular face of his, and really expressed the scar over his left eye. His clothes were even weirder with a green vest that exposed his chest; his dark brown pants and black boots seemed to be the only normal part of his ensemble. "What the lot of you lookin' at?"

"What?" Lee asked as the weird forest man stomped up towards him.

The man somewhat towered over Lee. "You got a problem with the way I look?"

"Uh…no?" Lee gulped before the man smiled.

Then with a great laugh, the man made Lee and Serena take a step back from him. "Y'all shoulda seen them looks on yer faces!"

_What is up with his guy?_ Lee just sweatdropped due to the fact that the strange man just continued to laugh loudly drawing attention to him.

"Scorpio! What in hell's fire are you doing here?" A large man asked the gray Mohawk haired man who was glaring at the large man.

"Don't blame me Pissssssscessssssssss! Thossssssssse foolssssssssssss came here!" Scorpio hissed as Pisces rubbed his short black hair. His huge black baggy clothes under his black trench coat hid his chubby body. On the back of his coat was a symbol of a red diamond inside of a blue diamond.

"Just remember to stay out of this, we can't risk blowing this cover until we locate the owner of Wood Chaos," Pisces growled as Scorpio just snickered turning his back.

"Very well," Scorpio stated. "I'm not allowed to take out the foolssssssssssss yet anyway."

The stands were filled to the brim with people chanting for the tournament to begin. Stepping onto the huge stump/stage, Pisces lifted the microphone to his lips and a note card held to his eyes. "Welcome one and all to the Forest Net Battle Tournament! Wood type navis gathered from all over to see which one of them is top dog! With the elimination rounds already out of the way, we bring you our first competitors…"

A bright light shown through one of the multiple trees as the same red neck guy that laughed a lot earlier walked under the spotlight. "Mr. Kane…hmm, there seems to be a smudge on his last name."

With a huge jump, Kane was firmly on top of the stump readying his emerald green PET. "Howdy, where's my opponent?"

"…Anyway, the other competitor is a solo-navi going by the name of Vineman!" Pisces announced as the net battle arena hummed to life displaying the skinny navi with a flower like helmet and two vines shooting out of his back.

"So this is the netop I have to face…his navi must not be impressive either," Vineman snickered as Kane waved a face to his foe.

"Y'all wanna try saying that to Axeman's face?" Kane threatened as he pointed his Advanced PET towards the Net Arena. "Start this match right now announcer man!"

"Uh…sure," Pisces stuttered as he lifted his arms. "Netop and Navis…begin!"

"Jack in! Axeman! And power up!"

Vineman just smirked at the sight of his opponent appearing before him. The very muscular navi garbed in emerald armor smiled as the rest of his armor appeared. Two hawk wings sprouted from the top of his helmet. His green chest armor was like a vest connected with a brown belt connected to a robe that covered the back of his legs. On his shin guards were multiple spikes and his leaf green gauntlets had huge axe blades attached to them. "Howdy pretty boy…"

"You certainly don't look the part of a Wood navi," Vineman stated. "You look more like a lumber jack with a style sense like that of dirt."  
Axeman snarled showing his now fang like teeth. "Yeah just go on and keep provoking me yah sissy flower boy. I'll slice ya, dice ya, and turn ya into stir fry!"

"I'd like you see you try that," Vineman stated as he raised his arm. "If you can get past Plant Weed!"

Multiple thorn covered vines shattered the ground and forced their way towards the smirking Axeman. Just as the vines were about to crash into Axeman, he just jumped into the air and seemed to ride the vines. "Yahoo! Someone call the gardener, I got a job to make him a millionaire!"

Vineman just sweatdropped at his opponent's lame joke while watching his attack become ineffective. "That joke needs work…a lot of work."

"How about this? I'm going through the Net vine!" Axeman laughed as everyone who heard the joke sweatdropped.

_I really need to take out that comedian program._ Kane just took a battle chip from his pocket and slid it into his PET. "Ready for a real mow down? Cause I'm sending the Axe Slammer battle chip into the game!"

"Boo ya!" Axeman's axes grew to outrageous proportions and he began to slash the vines. "Anyone up for salad?"

Vineman just slapped his forehead. "You're not funny! Area Steal!"

As soon as all of the vines were gone, Axeman's axes returned to normal. Axeman turned his head to the left and right; however, he couldn't see where his foe was. "Where'd flower power dude git to?"

Behind Axeman appeared a smiling Vineman with a volcano shaped cannon for a right arm. "Let's see if you really are a Wood type."

Axeman turned his head just in time to get a powerful blast of fire right in the stomach sending him to the ground. "Guess so, and its time to finish this."

"This match is just getting heated up!" Axeman laughed as he jumped to his feet.

"You're still not funny!" Vineman yelled as Kane slid another battle chip into his PET.

"Ya got that right…" Kane stated as the program started to take effect. "But now let's make way for Buzz Leaves!"

"Try these on for size!" Axeman announced as multiple leaves shot from his back. Then as the leaves began to spin, a loud buzzing sound filled the area. "Buzz Leaves!"  
The spinning leaves headed straight towards Vineman, who was able to easily dodge the attacks. "This is too easy…"

"And now Fire Blade!" Kane announced, as Axeman's right hand became a flaming cyber sword.

"Charge!" Axeman shouted running towards the dodging Vineman.

"You think you can get me that easily?" Vineman snickered as Kane slid another battle chip into his PET.

"This worked for ya! Area Steal!" Kane announced just as Axeman disappeared. Kane took the opportunity and slid a second chip into his PET.

"I know exactly where your soon to be dead comedian is going to show up!" Vineman announced slamming his foot into the ground causing multiple vines to shoot up from the ground. "Plant Weed!"

Just as Axeman reappeared the vines stabbed him right in the gut. "Guess the fool couldn't take my attack."

All of a sudden, Axeman turned to smoke and a small doll like version of him took his place. Vineman just stared in disbelief before three shuriken stabbed him in the back. "Argh! What the?"

"The chip used completely describes you…dummy!" Axeman laughed as he ran towards the stunned Vineman. "Now then…Fire Blade!"

With a quick slash, Vineman was sent flying into air with a severe third degree burn to his stomach. However, Axeman wasn't finished yet, with a powerful thrust Axeman jumped over Vineman and slammed his feet into Vineman, forcing the flower navi to the ground. "How d'ya like meh now Mr. Flower Power?"

Vineman tilted his head up before his body began to form the log out symbol. "Stupid red neck navi."

"I'm not a red neck…I'm a blue collared guy!" Axeman announced watching his opponent disappear.

"And I guess the winners are Kane and Axeman!" Pisces announced as Kane just disappeared.

_-One Hour Later…_

"And let's finish it with Axe Slammer!" Kane announced as Axeman finished off his final opponent.

"And that's all folks!" Axeman laughed watching his foe turn into the log out symbol.

"The winner of the match…and tournament is Kane and Axeman!" Pisces announced while Kane raised his fist towards the cheering crowd.

"Let me hear you yell it tall and proud!" Kane shouted as a golden trophy was handed to him. "And I think there was mention of a check…"

"There's nothing about a check," Pisces replied as Kane scratched his chin.

"Oh well, the trophy will fetch a fair amount of zenny," Kane snickered jumping off stage.

Kane just walked from the group of trees, he didn't notice that Pisces had followed him. "Excuse me Mr. Kane…"

"Yeah big man?" Kane asked as Pisces grunted.

"I would like to request something from you…"

"Now what?" Serena asked standing to the side watching everyone else leave the makeshift arena.

"We should probably talk to that Kane guy," Lee answered as he lifted his PET. "We'll use that scanner program to see if Axeman has the chaos data."

"Just leave it to me," Cypher stated.

Kane and Pisces just walked past the crowds; Serena caught that and pointed towards them. "Maybe we could ask them right now?"

"Might as well. I just hope that Axeman doesn't crack anymore lame jokes," Lee sighed.

"Hey, I thought he was hilarious!" Cypher protested.

"You would…"

"Ya sure ya wanna face off against me and Axeman?" Kane asked lifting his PET.

"I think I can hold my own…" Pisces stated preparing his orange and brown PET, and immediately activating it. "Come on out Tusk!"

"Let's get it on Axeman!"

In the net arena, Axeman appeared rubbing his nose as his latest opponent began to form in front of him. The navi was a huge guy missing a helmet but had wild bushy brown hair. The black armor covered his brown jumpsuit. From the look of this navi, you could easily guess why he was called Tusk; he had multiple tusks on his chest, arms, and shins attached with silver chains. There were even more chains all over his body attached to different weights. "Tusk ready to fight…"

"Bring it on Porky," Axeman joked as a small breeze blew through the arena.

"I'm going to delete that comedian program…" Kane sighed as Pisces snickered.

"Tusk! Give him a taste of Tusk Missiles!"

All of the tusks on Tusk's body began to light up before they all launched towards Axeman at an incredible speed. "Take this Red Neck!"

Displaying his crafty agility once more, Axeman easily dodged all of the missiles. "Talk about your miss-ills!"

Kane, Pisces and Tusk just sweatdropped as Axeman laughed dodging the missiles. "That was pathetic…"

"He's even worse when we've got an audience," Kane pointed out gesturing behind Pisces.

As Pisces turned his head, his eyes narrowed at the sight of Lee and Serena. However, a plan hatched inside his head. _This is just perfect…I'll kill three birds with one stone._

"You and your Navi suck!" Pisces shouted as Kane just scratched his hair.

"…Is that the best insult you could come up with?" Kane asked as Pisces sweatdropped even more.

_Okay…I need to touch on a subject that Red Necks care about…_ Then it hit Pisces. "NASCAR sucks!"

Kane and Axeman both lowered their heads as their shoulders began to pulsate. Then in unison…

"HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!! PREPARE TO EAT DIRT!"

Axeman charged his opponent dodging the missiles by pure will, his eyes seemed to have blanked out as Tusk roared into the air. "CHAIN BINDING!"

All of a sudden the multiple chains that were on Tusk disappeared, but then reappeared on Axeman binding him to the ground. "What the heck?!?"

"Don't forget the Tusk Missiles…" Pisces pointed out as the multiple missiles headed straight towards the immobile Axeman.

"This is going to sting," Axeman cringed just as the missiles struck him.

Axeman shouted in pain as the missiles pierced his body, but when a missile struck his right bicep…

The chains and missiles were thrown into the air as a bright green light covered Axeman. When the light shattered Axeman's colors inverted and multiple glowing leaves floated around him. Pisces just smirked at the sight of the Chaos data. "And that's what I've been looking for!"

"Then…you're with that Zodiac group!" Lee shouted rushing forward with Serena close behind as Pisces laughed loudly.

"Yep! I'm Pisces! And my navi Tusk! And since we gathered all three of the chaos data users we've found so far, I'll be able to get a promotion! A _big _one, too." Pisces laughed as he pushed a button on his PET. "And don't think that escaping is an option!"

From the trees fell multiple cage bars trapping the four people into the makeshift arena. From behind one of the cage bars stood Scorpio watching what was going on. _Pisssssssssscesssssss… you better not fail thissssssss…

* * *

_

_And its evil for leaving you all in a cliffhanger._

Really? Then I'm the most evil person of all cause I do it all the time. Jabber can tell you that.

_Whatever…enjoy and review!_

Ditto. BTW, do they even have NASCAR in the Megaman world? Food for thought.


	11. Pisces

So anyway, on with the next chapter… As usual I suck at these intros. At least Vyser made it interesting.

* * *

Lee glared across at Pisces as he laughed over his apparent triumph. "Bwahahaha!! I've got you now! You can't escape!"

Lee just felt like making a retort at the moment so he responded: "Ever think about the fact that you're trapped in here, too?"

"Will someone_ please_ explain what in tarnation is goin' on here?!" Kane exclaimed.

"Long story short: Him," Lee pointed to Pisces. "Bad guy. Us: good guys. They want some important data that our two navis have and that yours apparently has too."

"Unless there's some other kind of data that makes you glowy and super powerful," Cypher remarked.

"You, keep your comments to yourself and get in there and help Axeman. Jack in, Cypher, power up! Watch out," Lee added, aside to Kane. "He's another one for lame jokes…"

"Comedian program?" Kane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, naturally."

Cypher appeared beside the glowing Axeman. "Hey there," he said, waving cheerfully. "I'm a big fan and was wondering--" He didn't get the chance to say more because a huge swipe of Axeman's arm sent him flying. Cypher winced as he stood up. "Well, this hasn't started well."

"I forgot," Lee said smacking his head. "When a navi's in Chaos mode, they totally ignore all boundaries between friend and foe… including Netop commands."

This was confirmed by Axeman beginning to lumber off toward Tusk. Pisces smirked. "Heh, this Wood Chaos isn't so tough. Look how slow he's going! Take him, Tusk!"

"Tusk Missiles!!" Tusk once again fired off a round of pointed missiles at the oncoming Axeman, but they just glanced off him, continuing their flight at odd angles. Most spiraled out of control and exploded. Cypher was forced to dodge one such wayward missile. "Yow! Nice defense though…"

"That's the Wood Chaos ability," Lee said, peering at the incoming info from the Chaos scanner program. It displayed yet another brown wedge shaped piece of data, this one with a leaf on it. "The user is impervious to all attacks for a short amount of time. However, their speed stat is cut and one other thing…"

"What? What is it?" Kane asked, trying to move to look over Lee's shoulder.

"The shield won't hold up against Fire attacks. And if an attack gets through, the Chaos Mode shuts down immediately."

"Thanks for the info!" Pisces said, slotting chips into his PET. "Heat Shot, triple download!"

"Program Advance!" Tusk yelled. "Heat Spread!"

"Oh great…" Cypher said, beginning to dash headlong toward Axeman. "Get out of there, big guy!"

But Axeman continued to ignore him, completely concentrated on Tusk. Kane gritted his teeth. _He's not gonna make it…_

"Fire!!" Tusk yelled, letting off a huge blast of flame. There was a huge explosion. Cypher was knocked back several yards. He scrambled upright. "Axeman!"

Pisces began laughing afresh. "Bwahaha! Now the Wood Chaos is ours!"

"Not quite," said a new voice.

"Huh?" Cypher said.

Pisces was equally as confused. "Who dares to interfere?!"

The smoke cleared away, revealing Dolph standing in front of Axeman. A barrier was just fading from around the two of them. "That'd be me," Dolph said.

Lee shot a glance at Serena, who merely smiled shyly back at him. She was about to say something when Kane picked her up and swung her around, beaming. "That was some quick thinking there, little lady! You done saved my Axeman!"

Serena was blushing fiercely. "Thanks… I guess," she muttered when Kane set her down again.

Cypher skidded up next to Dolph. "Way to go, kid!"

Dolph put her hands on her hips. "Who's a 'kid?' I haven't seen you do much against this guy yet."

"Just takin' my time," Cypher responded, winking at her. "And I think our friend's about to come to his senses…"

As he said this, the aura around Axeman faded and his coloration returned to normal. He held his head, groaning. "Oh… what happened? I feel like someone hit up side the head with a tractor… or something just as big."

"Try him," Cypher said, pointing over at Tusk.

Axeman seemed to notice them for the first time. "Who're you then?"

"A fan," Cypher said grinning. "But let's show this guy who's king of the garden first, eh?"

A broad grin spread across Axeman's face. "I like the way ya think."

"Alright here we go!" Lee said. "On my signal!"

Pisces gritted his teeth. "C'mon, my Tusk can still take ya!"

"MagBomb3! Download!" Lee shouted, slotting in the corresponding chip.

Cypher hurled the bomb directly at Tusk, who cockily sidestepped it. "You missed," he said grinning.

Cypher merely smirked. "Oh right, and I totally forgot the attack spreads out too. My bad…"

"Wha?" Tusk glanced down at his feet. The magnetic force of the bomb had spread from the point of impact and now his feet were firmly stuck to the ground. "No!!"

"Oh yes! Now you two, attack!" Lee directed.

"Tri Fin Boomerang!!" Dolph shouted, as the fins on her arms and helmet enlarged and launched themselves off at Tusk.

"Axe Slammer!!" Axeman ran straight for Tusk, axes extended.

Two gigantic axe slashes and three smaller ones from the boomerangs connected with the stuck Tusk. _Tusk, logging out._

"Yea! I guess that Tusk wasn't nothin' but a big ol' cow after all," Axeman said beaming.

Everyone else sweat-dropped as Cypher rolled on the floor laughing. "Cow! Ahahaha! Tusk: a cow! Aha! Hahaha! Oh my ribs…"

Pisces, in the meantime was finding Lee's earlier comment to be quite true. He glanced at the group across the way. _They're distracted… Maybe, now I can find a way out of here._ He gripped the bars, pleading to his comrade outside. "Scorpio, get me out of here now!"

Scorpio, who had been observing quietly from a close distance, began walking away. "Do it yoursssself. It issss your cage, after all."

"What?! No, get back here you little… snake!"

"Now just who would y'all be talkin' too out there?"

Pisces dreaded turning around, but he did, finding himself face to face with three grim expressions. "Err…"

"Where's my brother?" Lee asked sternly.

Pisces began feeling around in his pocket for something. He stalled. "Oh, er… who might that be?"

"You know perfectly well who it is!" Lee yelled, getting more frustrated. "Now where is he?!"

Pisces found what he was looking for. He grinned. "Find him yourself." He pushed a button on a remote and a trap door opened up right beneath him. "Later, suckers!" The door closed right after he dropped through.

"Dang it…" Lee mumbled as the cage bars lifted.

Serena put a hand on his shoulder as the three of them walked off the platform. "We'll find him… sooner or later."

"I'd prefer sooner," Lee grunted.

"Now I don't know what y'all are mumblin' about," Kane interjected. "But you've done me a good turn, so whenever you need a hand just give me a shout, ya hear?"

Lee looked up smiling. "Thanks, Mr…"

"Kane."

"Right. I'm Lee and this is Serena. And the heap of laughing data is my navi, Cypher," Lee added, glaring at his PET screen.

"I can't help it," Cypher said, seemingly wiping a tear out of his eye. "This guy is so hilarious!"

Axeman beamed. "I've got a fan, man!"

"Your only one…" Kane muttered.

After parting ways with Kane, Lee and Serena started their trek again. "Now where to?" Serena asked.

"I don't know… But we do know that the Zodiac is behind these tournaments. We'll keep an eye out for anymore element-exclusives." But in the meantime…" Lee grinned at her. "I'm starved. Wanna get something to eat?"

Serena smiled back. "Definitely."

Cypher piped up. "Hey, you guys wanna hear a couple jokes Axeman taught me?"

"NO!!"

"Spoilsports…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Pisces had arrived back at HQ to see a fuming Leo. "But… But I discovered who has the Wood Chaos data!" he protested. "That's gotta count for something!"

"Oh I'm sorry," Leo said, putting on a mocking voice. "Now whose exact words were 'We'll get that Wood Chaos. I swear on it,' Hmm…?" His tone changed completely. "Get out of my sight!" Pisces scrambled out of the room as fast as he could.

Leo sat back in his chair, with his head in his hands. "Why am I surrounded by incompetence…? Though I must say those brats have incredibly lucky up 'till now…" He suddenly struck upon an idea. "Yes… they have been lucky… but their luck's about to run out." He tapped an intercom beside his chair. "Agent Gemini, you're on."

* * *

Dun dun dun… A new agent is on the case… But what's so special about them, eh? The Zodiac is running down. Review time peoples! Later days! 


	12. With Just A Little Bit of Luck

Ta-da! Ch. 12 la di da… I'll stop now. I really suck at intros. I think I might just cut them out from now on… While I ponder that idea, you guys go on and read and stuff…

* * *

Lee and Serena wandered back into the city, searching for someplace to eat and discussing the most recent event in their journey. "So now we can cross off Pisces and the Ox off our list," Serena said.

Lee checked over their list as he edited it accordingly. "Yup, that's five that we've run into so far. Well, five of their navis at least. We still don't know who that rat guy's Op is."

"So what do we do now?" Serena asked.

Lee shrugged. "There's not much we can do; just wait for them to come find us and keep our guard up." There was a pause in which Lee's stomach let out an unusual gurgle. "Or we could just find someplace to eat." He stopped and looked around for a moment. "Hey, that place looks good," he said pointing at a diner across the way. "Let's go!"

With that, the two of them headed across the street to the place.

Meanwhile, in that very same diner, another conversation was going on: Leo was briefing Agent Gemini on the mission. "So… you want me to take these two out?"

"And collect the Chaos data they carry."

"Right. I'll get right on that… as soon as I get off of work."

Leo sighed. Sometimes being an underground evil organization had its drawbacks. "Just so long as it gets done," he murmured back.

"Hey boss, could you give me the description of the twosome again? A tall guy wearing gold and a girl with blue hair right?"

Leo was still a bit disinterested. "Yes, that's it…"

"Oh good, cause they just walked in here. Howzat for luck, eh?"

Leo sat up and smiled. "Yes, very lucky indeed. You know what to do from here."

"Gotcha. Gemini out."

* * *

Lee looked around the front of the diner. "So I guess we just wait here for someone to get us a seat…?"

Serena surveyed the entire room. "It looks busy. You think they even have a seat for us?"

At that moment, a waitress came bustling up. "Welcome, welcome. Just the two of you then? Follow me this way," she added beckoning as she moved off.

Lee grinned at Serena who merely shook her head. The waitress had short white hair but seemed to not even be out of her 20s yet. She wore black pants and a white hoodie under her server's apron. She continued talking as they weaved through the busy restaurant. "We're rather busy today. It's just lucky I looked up and saw when I did. And just after clearing out this table too. Luck certainly seems to be in full swing today, eh? Ah, here we are," she said, stopping in front of a small booth, already set with two table settings and menus. Lee and Serena each slid into a side of the booth as the waitress pulled out her pad. "So anyways, I'll be your server today. Once you're ready just holler for Gem and I'll get around to you soon as I can, if you're lucky." With that, Gem disappeared back into the maze of tables.

"Well, she seems nice," Serena commented. "Or as nice as someone can be in a place this busy."

Lee nodded absently as he scanned the menu. "Lessee… what've they got here…?"

"I recommend the Mystery Special," Gem said suddenly reappearing. "It's curry but with a surprise ingredient added in."

Lee jumped. "I thought you said you were gonna be a while!"

Gem shrugged. "A bunch of customers just cleared out so I'm free. So what'll it be? Two Mystery Specials?"

Lee glanced across at Serena who shrugged. "Sure, we'll go with that. And two milks as well," he added handing over their menus.

"Excellent. It'll be ready in a few minutes," Gem said, vanishing once again.

"She seems a bit too peppy for my taste," Le remarked once Gem had gone. "Wonder what's up with her name?"

Serena shrugged. "Might just be a nickname."

"I guess…"

Suddenly, there was a loud boom and several screams from the back of the restaurant. Lee immediately stood up and tried to see what was going on. "What the heck was that?!"

People came pouring out of the kitchen, headed for the exit. Lee elbowed his way through him, Serena following close behind. He grabbed someone as they passed, who happened to be Gem. "What happened?" he demanded.

Gem was in a state of near panic. "I don't know! Everything's just fine one minute, then all the electronic cooking equipment goes ka-blooey! The kitchen's in flames and the fire system isn't working!"

"I'll take care of it," Lee said. "Just show me where to jack in!"

Gem pointed to a port on the wall. "That's for the fire extinguishers. The port to access the cooking system is in the kitchen. They're two separate comps."

"I'll take care of the fires," Serena spoke up. Lee started to protest, but Serena interrupted. "I'm never going to get better at Netbattling if you keep doing it for me."

Lee was about to say something else, but gave up on it. "Alright, that leaves the extinguishing system to me."

"You guys take care of that," Gem said, heading out the door. "I'm getting out of here!"

"Let's do this!" Cypher said as Lee positioned himself in front of the port.

"Give a yell if you need help at all," Lee shouted back.

Serena nodded as she headed for the kitchen door. "I hope I'm ready for this…" she muttered.

"Don't worry, we can handle it," Dolph reassured her.

"OK if you say so," Serena sighed before shoving the door open. The heat hit her instantly as the door swung shut behind her. "We've got to find that port quick so I can get out of here!" she shouted above the roaring flames.

"Roger that. Try over to your left," Dolph suggested.

Serena glanced in the specified direction. "I see it," she said, spotting the port over a stove. "Dolph, jack in!"

The Kitchen Comp was red hot and crawling with Fire type viruses, mostly Volgear and Draggy. "It's really hot in here…" Dolph muttered, wiping an arm across her forehead.

"Alright, let's try this one out. Ice Wave, battlechip in!" Serena said, at the same time backing out of range of the fire.

"Take this!" Dolph yelled letting off a blast of cold energy that traveled back and forth, eliminating viruses as it went.

Meanwhile, Cypher discovered that the Fire Comp was all but deserted. "I don't get it," he said. "If there's no viruses here then how come it doesn't work…?"

"We'd better check the system, just to be sure," Lee directed.

"Gotcha," Cypher replied, beginning to jog off deeper into the Comp. That is until… "Whoa!" Cypher dodged to the side as something went flying by him.

"What happened?!" Lee demanded.

"Er… scratch that part about there being no viruses here…" came the reply. Cypher found himself facing a swarm of Bunny viruses. "I think we've found the problem."

"No kidding," Lee said. "Whoever's in charge has to be here. Those Bunny viruses aren't normal. They're all white."

Cypher dodged another ring of electricity. "And they've got pretty good aim too. We need to finish these guys off quick before they really get going."

"You got it. Let's pull out an old favorite combo of mine. Bamboo Lance, battlechip in!"

There was a moment's pause before many lances sprang out of the ground right underneath the virus swarm, eliminating some, but most were lucky enough to dodge out of the way at the right time.

"Wind Box, Boomerang, battlechips in!"

A large fan appeared right in front of Cypher as the Boomerang weapon loaded in. "Dodge _this_ you little pests!" Cypher yelled as he hurled the boomerang into the forest of lances. The points were chopped off and blown into the swarm by the Wind Box, deleting the rest of the viruses. Cypher wiped his forehead. "Phew, that was close…"

* * *

"Tidal Shield!!" Dolph sent a huge wave crashing into another group of viruses, deleting them. "Don't these things ever give it a rest?! They just keep coming!"

Serena was starting to sweat. "Just keep fighting! Let's hope Lee can get the extinguishers working. I'm all out of battlechips!"

"Just great…" Dolph muttered. "We'll be lucky to survive this. Tri-Fin Boomerang!!" she added onto the end of it, wiping out another couple viruses, but it made little difference to the total amount. _C'mon Cypher, get us out of this…

* * *

_

Cypher had traveled further into the Comp, having run into no more viruses after the first very large group. "This thing has to end at some point…" he murmured. He glanced up as a large structure rose up in the distance. "There we go."

"Let's step it up, Cypher," Lee said. "Serena's probably taken care of the kitchen's system, but we still need to put out the fires."

"Roger that. I… uh…" Cypher pulled up suddenly as a figure stepped in front of him. "And you would be…?"

The navi waved at him cheerfully. "I'm Lucky! And I'm sorry, but I can't let you go any further." Lucky had a pink suit with a white helmet and armor on her chest, thighs, shins, and stomach. Decorating the armor were many items that were said to be lucky, such as four leaf clovers, horseshoes, etc. She also had two floppy rabbit ears coming off her helmet and a little fluffy tail.

"Lemme guess," Cypher said. "You're one of the Zodiac navis. Who's _your _Op? Hercules?"

Lee sweatdropped. "Er… that's not a Zodiac name…"

A screen appeared next to Lucky. "That'd be me," the person on it said.

Lee gasped. "Hey, you're…!"

Gem grinned at him. "Yep, it's me, Gem, or should I say, Gemini!"

Lee slapped his forehead. "How did I not catch that?"

Gemini just laughed at him. "It's lucky for me that you didn't. And I've been having all the luck. You guys showing up here saved me the trouble of having to find you. And the fire, well… You might wanna see this…" Gemini's picture disappeared to reveal a live video of inside the kitchen.

Lee gritted his teeth, trying his hardest not to lash out as he watched the video feed. Serena was trying desperately to get out of the kitchen, but the door was electronically locked. And the flames were getting closer. Serena was nearly about to faint from the heat.

Gemini came back on laughing again. "You'd better hurry and beat us, or else your girlfriend is toast!"

"Your luck is just about to run out…" Lee growled.

"It ran out the instant you messed with us," Cypher added.

"Oh I don't think so," Lucky responded. "Luck has never let me down yet and it never will. So take your best shot!!"

* * *

HA HA HA! Another cliffy for you to munch on! Actually, this chapter just got way longer than I intended it too. But anyway, the battle starts next time. Until then, REVIEW and all that. Later days! 


	13. Gemini

You know, it's really ironic that the battle with Lucky takes place in Chapter 13. And that I updated this on Friday the 13th. (Done on purpose, BTW. The chapter 13… not so much.) I guess that makes it better for Lee and Cypher though, it being _un_lucky an' all. Or it could just be unlucky for them. Why don't you just read on and find out how it turns out, eh?

* * *

"Elec Blade, slot in!" Lee said, slotting in the appropriate chip.

"Take this!" Cypher yelled, charging at Lucky. "I'll teach you to mess with my friends." However, when he got close to Lucky, somehow he tripped. "What?" he said, landing flat on his face. Lucky didn't move as the blade dug into the ground a centimeter from her foot. "How did that happen…?" Cypher groaned.

"Luck!" Lucky said cheerfully. "And here's some more! Clover!" Lucky leapt up into the air and peeled off one of the four-leaf clovers that was on her armor. "Take _this!_" she said, tossing it down at Cypher. It landed right next to him… and nothing happened.

Cypher stood up and picked up the clover. "And that was supposed to do… what?" It was then he noticed that the stem of the clover was actually a fuse. "Oh… crap." The clover exploded with a force that denied its small innocent looking appearance. Cypher was thrown out of the explosion a distance, skidding to a halt right by Lucky's feet. "I hate luck…" he decided, groaning.

"Don't give up that easily!" Lee shouted. "We don't need luck to beat her!"

"You don't even _have_ any luck!" Gemini retorted. "It's all mine! I'm the luckiest person in the world and I haven't lost ever!"

"Ever?" Lee repeated, doubting it.

"Not never! No one's even scratched Lucky!" Gemini responded proudly. "So give up now, while you still can. We may decide to be merciful… if you're lucky."

"Surrender?" Cypher scoffed, struggling up. "Yea right. Like I'd ever surrender to someone like you!" He charged yet again. "Yaaaaaahh!!"

"Lucky Slots!" Lucky said. The armored section on her stomach switched around to reveal a slot machine, currently set on three 7's but not for long. The slots activated, spinning round and round until they came to rest on two swords and a leaf. "Perfect!" Lucky said as a Bamboo Sword loaded in. She blocked Cypher's attack with her own sword. "Wasn't that just lucky?" she said cheerfully as she brought the sword down for a huge slash. It shattered Cypher's blade and grazed him in the side.

"Stop it with all the luck references!" Cypher said. "It's getting annoying!"

"Horseshoe!" Lucky merely responded, peeling of a horseshoe and hurling at Cypher like a boomerang. The horseshoe grew in midair and became a flying object of destruction.

"Not this time!" Cypher said, jumping up into the air and landing on the large horseshoe. "Can't hit me if I'm on it!" Lucky merely beamed. "What's so funny about it?' Cypher demanded. He happened to look down at his feet. There lay another clover. "Oh, for the love of--!" Cypher jumped off the horseshoe in time but the shockwave from the explosion caused him to go flying still. "This isn't working out so good…" he groaned, upside-down.

"Let's try a different approach," Lee decided. "Ranged attack! Boomerang, slot in!"

"Here's hoping…" Cypher said, leaping up and throwing the Boomerang straight at Lucky in one motion.

"Lucky Slots!" Lucky said, as the slot machine went into action again. This time it stopped on three flames. "Perfect! Fire Tower!!" A large column of fire sprang up from the ground right in front of Lucky, incinerating the Boomerang as it flew through. More towers began popping up, getting closer to Cypher.

"Not good…" Cypher muttered, glancing around. "These things could pop up anywhere…"

"Aqua Aura, slot in!" Lee had thought ahead and pulled out the appropriate chip. Just in time too, because a tower exploded right beneath Cypher's feet.

"Alright!" Cypher shouted, bursting through the flames. He made to charge at Lucky again.

"Lucky Slots!" The slot machine went into motion yet again, this time coming up two lightning bolts and a 7. "Zap Ring!" Lucky said, firing off one right at Cypher.

"Aw c'mon!!" Cypher yelled exasperated. The ring punched right through the Aura, shattering it and paralyzing Cypher. Lucky tossed another clover at him for good measure. Cypher glared at it unable to move. _I hate you…_ KA-BOOM!!

Cypher was left lying on the ground. He stared up, not moving. "I don't get it. We've got better technique, but she just keeps getting the right stuff to counter it on luck. What is with that slot machine anyway?"

"I'd be happy to explain!" Lucky said cheerfully. "Whatever comes up on the slots determines my attack."

"So what's with the 7?" Lee wondered.

Gemini grinned. "That's the best part. If Lucky gets three 7's, it's game over. You get an instant delete."

Lee stared in shock. "Y-you're kidding, right?"

Gemini began laughing. "No joke, kid. And each time she uses Lucky Slots, her chances of getting a 7 increase. So better think of something quick…"

Cypher stood up slowly. "Well, first I could use a little boost…"

"You got it. Recover 150, slot in!" Lee said.

A light glowed around Cypher and some of his wounds faded away. He stretched his neck and swung his arms around a bit. "Much better. Now let's finish this thing up. We've gotta get Serena out of there!"

"Step Cross, slot in!"

"Lucky Slots!" Lucky said almost immediately after.

"Take this!" Cypher said, dashing at high speed toward Lucky, sword raised.

Two 7's and a cloud locked into place on the slot machine. "Tornado!" Lucky shouted as a huge blast of wind knocked Cypher off his feet.

"Dang it!" Cypher said, gritting his teeth. "Almost had her!"

"We have to hit her before she gets a chance to counter our move," Lee said. "And she got two 7's this time. She could get three the next."

"There's only one choice then," Cypher quietly. His symbol began to glow.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" Lee said.

"If we're going to beat these guys, we have to stop playing around," Cypher said as the glow became more intense. "If they want the Chaos data, then let's show them just what it can do!!"

Gemini looked worried for a second. "Now, Lucky! Do it now!"

"Lucky Slots!!" Lucky shouted and the slot machine went into action again.

"Elec Chaos!!" A projection of Cypher's symbol emanated from the one on his chest. It flipped around and then slammed back into Cypher's chest, sending off a bright flash of yellow light.

One 7 stopped on the slot machine.

A wave of light spread over Cypher, inverting his colors as it went.

A second 7 fell into place.

The light finished its path and a dull yellow aura surrounded Cypher. His eyes shot open and he vanished suddenly.

"What?!" Gemini yelled in disbelief.

Cypher reappeared right in front of Lucky who looked panic-stricken. "Your lucky just ran out," he growled and then slashed her across the chest twice in the blink of an eye. Similar slash marks appeared on his own chest.

"AAAGH!"

_Lucky, logging out._

As Lucky logged out, Lee caught sight of the third 7 just about to lock into place. He let out a huge sigh of relief and collapsed against the wall. "That was too close…" He held up his PET. "Good job Cypher. Cypher…?" Cypher had vanished again. "Now what? Cypher!!"

* * *

Dolph was seriously beginning to tire. _C'mon, let up already, will you?!_ She fended off an attacking virus with her trident, then faltered and fell to her knees. _That's it, I'm done… I've got no more strength left._ Then without warning, the viruses began de-rezzing. Not one after another, but all at once. It was like a chain reaction. Dolph looked up in surprise. _What the…?_ She stopped as a figure suddenly appeared in front of her. She looked up at it. "Cypher…?"

Cypher was still in Chaos mode and covered in slash marks. He said nothing as he began to raise his sword again.

"Wait, what's wrong Cypher? Don't you recognize me?" Dolph said.

Cypher seemed to stall for a split-second, but only that much. The sword came rushing down. Dolph closed her eyes.

"CYPHER, STOP!!"

Dolph opened one eye. Surprisingly, Cypher had stopped. He seemed to be struggling with holding himself back, but he had stopped.

"Cypher, shut down the Chaos mode…" Lee's voice came softly.

"Urrgh…" Cypher was in the middle of an internal war. Something inside wanted to finish the motion, to slice right through the navi lying at his feet. But something else was stopping him. _No, I know her! She's my friend! I will control this, I _WILL "AAAAHH!!" Cypher let out a loud yell as a flash of light engulfed him. When it receded, he had returned to normal. He collapsed next to Dolph, breathing heavily. "You got it… Lee…" he said slowly.

Lee let out another huge sigh of relief. "Good job," was all he could think of to say. He turned to Serena who was just regaining consciousness. "You alright?"

"What happened?" Serena asked, getting up slowly.

"The Zodiac, that's what happened. Turns out 'Gem' is actually short for 'Gemini.' Another one for the list, Gemini and Rabbit."

"Hey, Lee…" Cypher started. "I think… that the Chaos data becomes easier to control the more you use it. It was definitely easier than the first time it activated."

"Hmm…" Lee thought about that. "Maybe, but I really don't want to risk you going berserk again. For now, we'll leave the Chaos data alone. In other news…" Lee looked at the screen on his PET. "We've got two wiped out Netnavis. I hate to say it, but we're going to have to call in some back up…"

* * *

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what happened. My luck has never failed me before!" Gemini pleaded, back at Zodiac HQ.

Leo sat quiet for a moment, and then spoke. "Yes, it's true you failed. But also, thanks to your efforts, our enemies are in a most vulnerable state. For that, you will not be punished." Gemini looked visibly relieved as Leo turned his attention away from her. He picked up his red and black PET. "Scorpio?"

"Yessssss, Masssster…"

"Now is the opportune time to move in. You know what to do."

"Assss you wisssssh…"

Leo put down his PET, smiling slightly. _Scorpio will not fail, I know, but it never hurts to have a back up plan._ He hit a switch near his seat. "Agent Libra."

"I'm here, boss."

"You will back up Scorpio. But only step in if it looks as though things might go for the worse. Understood?"

"You got it, boss."

Leo flipped the switch off and sat back, his smile broadening. Yes, there was no way he could fail this time.

* * *

(ominous music) Looks like the Zodiac is gearing up for an all-or-nothing attack. So what's Lee and Serena going to do against it with both their navis wiped out from Gemini's assault? And just what kind of "back up" is Lee talking about? Find out next time, same Mega-time, same Mega-web page!! …OK, no. That just doesn't work. Review peoples and later days! 


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